^-^THE^-^ 


LE  OF  THE  CRATER 


N  PR0NT  0F  PETERSBURG. 


JULY  30,    1864. 


A  Memorable  Day  In  History, 


AN  ADDRESS 

Delivered  Before  the  A.  P.  Hill  Camp  of  Confederate  Veter- 
ans, Petersburg,  Va.,  in  that  City,  on  the  24th  of 
June,  1890,  by  Comrade  Geo.  S.  Bernard. 


Published  by  A.  P.  Hill  Camp,  C.  V.,  the  proceeds  to  be  applied 
towards  the  erection  of  a  Monument  to  General  A.  P.   Hill. 

For  Sale  by  T.  S,  BECKWITH  &  CO.,  Booksellers, 

PETERSBURG,  VIRGINIA. 
PRICE,    15    CENTS." 


Petersburg  Index-Appeal  Presses. 


[The  following  from  the  Rural  Messenger,  (Petersburg,  Va.),  of  July  19,  1890, 
is  selected  from  several  favorable  press  notices  descriptive  of  this  pamphlet:] 

"  THE  BATTLE  OP  THE  CRATER." 

"  We  have  received,  with  the  compliments  of  the  author,  Geo. 
S.  Bernard,  Esq.,  of  Petersburg-,  a  pamphlet  copy  of  an  address  de- 
livered by  him  before  the  A.  P.  Hill  Camp  of  .Confederate  Veterans, 
of  that  city,  on  June  24th,  1890.  The  address  covers  eighteen  double 
columns  of  closely  printed  matter  reciting  the  author's  individual 
•impressions  as  a  participant  in  that  memorable  action,  supplement 
ed  by  liberal  quotations  from  other  sources. 

"  We  had  read  the  thrilling  account  with  absorbing  interest  as  it 
first  appeared  in  the  Dally  Index- Appeal ',  and  look  upon  it  as  an 
exceedingly  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of  that  ever  to  be  re- 
membered war  day,  July  30th,  1864,  when  the  Federals  exploded 
their  mine  under  the  Confederate  works,  and  produced  that  horrible 
hell-hole  that  is  destined  be  known  on  the  pages  of  history  as  'The 
Crater.'  Comrade  Bernard  was  one  of  that  gallant  band,  of  Confed- 
erates who  recaptured  the  broken  section,  and  restored  Lee's  line. 
His  graphic  account  of  what  he  saw  and  heard  and  felt  on  that  oc- 
casion must  vividly  recall,to  all  those  who  participated  in  that  death- 
struggle,  scenes  and  events  now  perhaps  fading  from  the  memory, 
but  which  time's  wearing  touch  can  never  quite  efface.  Every  old 
soldier  ought  to  have  a  copy,  to  refresh  his  memory  as  to  how 
men  fought  and  died  then  in  defense  of  the  right;  and  every  son  of 
a  soldier  should  read  it,  to  imbue  his  mind  with  an  adequate  sense 
of  the  duty  of  devotion  to  one's  country." 

ALBEMARLE  HOTEL. 

Centrally  Located.     Newly  fitted  up.    Guides  and  Convey- 
ances furnished  at  moderate  rates  to  those  wishing  to 
visit  the  Battlefields  and  other  points  of  interest. 

FBEEH4X  W.  JOZIES, 

Proprietor. 

PYLE  &  DeHAVEN, 

Real  Estate  Agents 

AND  LAND  BEOKEES, 

Also,  Agents  of -Virginia  Immigration  Society. 

OFFICE,  NO.  1  MECHANICS   BUiLDING,    TABB  ST.,  NEAB   POST  OFFICE, 

IPIETiEIR-SIBTJ'IR.O-,    ^7~J±. 

JQp'Great  Bargains  in  Farms,   Timber  Land,  and  Mineral  Land. 

Write  for  Circulars  Containing  Description.  Sent  Free. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  CRATER. 


ttjjltz'  307  iee4- 


LE  DAY  IN  HISTORY, 


j^nsr  .ajdidie^ikiss 

DELIVERED    BEFORE     THE    A.    P.    HILL    CAMP    OF    CONFEDERATE 

VETERANS,  OF  PETERSBURG,  VA.,  IN  THAT  CITY,  ON  THE 

24TH  OF  JUNE,   1890,  BY  COMRADE  GEO.  S.  BERNARD. 


Comrades :  It  was  my  fortune  as  a 
member  of  the  Petersburg  Riflemen,  Com- 
pany E,  12  th  Virginia  infantry,  Gen. 
Wm.  Mahone's  brigade,  to  take  part  in 
the  memorable  engagement  known  as 
"The  Battle  of  the  Crater,"  and  it  is  now 
proposed  to  give  some  account  of  the  ac- 
tion— to  tell  a  war  story  from  the  stand- 
point of  a  high  private  in  the  rear  rank, 
supplementing  information  within  my 
personal  knowledge  with  some  material 
drawn  from  other  sources  believed  to  be 
reliable,  this  being  necessary  to  a  proper 
understanding  of  what  will  be  told. 

On  Saturday  morning,  the  30th  of 
July,  1864,  when  the  mine  under  the 
angle  in  the  Confederates  works  around 
Petersburg  known  as  "Elliott's  salient" 
was  exploded,  blowing  up,  or  burying 
under  the  debris  of  earth  and  timber,  be- 
tween two  hundred  and  fifty  and  three 
hundred  officers  and  men  occupying  the 
works  at  this  point,  making  therein  a 
huge  chasm  described  in  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  as 
"from  150  to  200  feet  in  length,  about 
60  in  width,  and  from  25  to  30  feet  in 
depth,  and  aptly  called  "a  crater,"  from 
its  resemblance  to  the  mouth  of  a  vol- 
cano, Mahone's  brigade  was  occupying 
the  breastworks  on  the  Wilcox  farm  im- 
mediately south  of  our  city,  say,  about  a 
point  which  would  be  reached  by  a  pro- 
longation of  Adams  street.  The  site  of 
the  "Crater,"  as  is  well  known  to  proba- 
bly all  now  present,  is  east  of  the  Jerusa- 


lem plank  road  and  about  a  half  mile 
south-east  from  Blandford  cemetery,  be- 
ing located  a  short  distance  beyond  our 
city  limits  in  the  county  of  Prince  George 
on  the  farm  of  Mr.  T.  R.   Griffith. 

Some  time  during  the  night  preceding 
the  explosion,  our  brigade  received  or- 
ders to  be  "ready  to  move  at  a  mo- 
ment's warning,"  which,  of  course,  indi- 
cated that  something  was  expected  re- 
quiring a  movement  of  the  command. 

It  was  well  understood  that  the  enemy 
were  mining  somewhere  on  our  line,  but 
exactly  at  what  point  was  not  known. 
A'  countermine  was  made  by  the  Con- 
federates several  hundred  yards  to  the 
right  of  the  Crater,  near  the  point  at 
which  the  Confederate  breastworks  cross 
the  Jerusalem  plank  road,  as  may  be 
seen  at  this  time.  At  the  Elliott  salient 
a  countermine  was  begun,  but  was  aban- 
doned for  want  of  proper  tools. 

The  explosion  took  place  between  day- 
break and  sunrise  (4:44  A.  M.  was  the 
exact  time),  and  the  impression  made 
upon  those  hearing  it  may  be  likened  to 
that  of  the  nearly  simultaneous  discharge 
of  several  pieces  of  artillery.  The  con- 
cussion of  the  atmosphere  was  unusual. 
We  were  all  soon  in  the  breastworks. 
Something  extraordinary  we  knew  had 
happened.  Soon  a  report  came  down 
the  line  from  the  direction  of  the  scene 
of  action  that  a  mine  had  been  exploded 
and  a  part  of  our  works  blown  up  and 
was  occupied  by  the  enemy. 


A  little  after  six  o'clock,  when  the 
Crater  had  been  in  the  enemy's  posession 
for  more  than  an  hour,  a  staff  officer 
rides  rapidly  past  us;  General  Mahone's 
headquarters,  which  were  at  the  Branch 
House,  just  west  of  the  Wilcox  farm,  is 
the  point  of  destination  of  this  staff- 
officer,  who  is  Colonel  Chas.  S.  Veuable, 
aide-de  camp  to  General  Lee.  Colonel 
Venableis  bearing  a  message  to  General 
Mahone  who  was  then,  as  he  had  been 
since  the  wounding  of  General  Long- 
street  at  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  in 
command  of  Anderson's  division,  which 
was  compu.-ed  of  the  brigades  of  General 
Wm.  Mahone  (Virginians),  General  A.  R.. 
Wright  (Georgians),  General  J.  C.  C. 
Saunders  (Alabamians),  General  N.  H. 
Harris  (Missi^sippians),  and  General 
Joseph  Finnegan  (Floridians). 

The  message  borne  to  General  Mahone 
is  to  send  at  once  two  of  his  brigades  to 
the  support  of  General  Bushrod  it.  John- 
son, who  commanded  that  part  of  the 
Confederate  lines  embracing  the  works 
now  in  the  enemy's  hands. 

Very  soon,  under  orders  received,  the 
men  of  Mahone's  brigade  of  Virginians 
and  Wright's  brigade  of  Georgians  began 
to  drop  back  from  their  places  in  the 
breastworks,  one  by  one,  into  the  corn- 
field immediately  in  their  rear,  and  when 
they  were  well  out  of  sight  of  the  „ ene- 
my, theline  was  formed  and  the  two  brig- 
ades marched  to  the  Ragland  House,* 
were  there  halted  and  the  men  were  di- 
rected to  divest  themselves  of  knapsacks, 
blankel-iolls  and  other  baggage;  an  order 
which  to  the  veteran  plainly  bespoke  se- 
rious work  and  that  in  the   near  future. 

In  a  written  statement  made  by  Col. 
Venable  in  1872,  referring  to  the  carry- 
ing of  the  message  from  Gen.  Lee  to  Gen. 
Mahone,  he  says  : 

"Be  sent  me  directly  to  Gen.  .Mahone,  (say- 
ing that  to  save  time  the  order  need  not  be 
sent  through  Gen.  A.  P.  Hill,)  with  the  re- 
quest that  he  would  send,  at  once,  two  of  the 
brigades  of  his  division  to  the  assistance  of 
Gen.  Johnson.  I  rode  rapidly  to  Gen.  Ma- 
hone's line,  and  delivered  my  message.  He 
immediately  gave  orders  to  the  commanders 
of  the  Virginia  and  Georgia  brigades  to  move 

*  The  fagland  House  stood  on  the  west  side 
of  the  plank  road  and  on  the  south  side  of 
New  road,  some  three  or  four  hundred  yards 
in  front  of  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  Jno. 
J.  Cocke. 


to  the  salient  and  report  to  Gen.  Johnson. 
The  troops  moved  promptly,  the  Virginia  brig- 
ade (Gen.  Weisiger)  in  front.  We  rode  on  to- 
gether, at  the  head  of  the  column,  Gen.  Ma- 
hone giving  instructions  to  his  officers  and  in- 
quiring as  to  the  condition  of  things  at  the 
salient.  «  hen  we  reached  the  peach  orchard, 
in  rear  of  the  Ragland  House,  noticing  that 
the  men  were  encumbered  with  their  knap- 
sacks, he  halted  the  column,  and  caused  both 
brigades  to  put  themselves  in  battle  trim. 
\v  bile  the  men  were  throwing  aside  their 
knapsacks,  he  turned  to  me  and  said,  'I  can't 
send  my  brigades  to  Gen.  Johnson,— I  will  go 
witb  them  myself.'  He  then  moved  the  col- 
umn towards  the  opening  of  the  covered  way. 
which  led  to  the  Crater  salient.  I  left  him  at 
this  point,  to  report  to  Gen.  Lee,  who  mean 
time,  had  come  to  the  front.  I  found  trim  sit- 
ting with  Ger.  Hill,  among  the  men  in  the 
lines,  at  a  traverse  near  the  River  salient. 
v\  hen  I  told  him  of  the  delivery  of  the  mes- 
sage, and  that  Gen  Mahone  had  concluded  to 
lead  the  two  brigades  himself,  he  expressed 
gratification." 

Leaving  the  Ragland  house  we  marched 
along  the  edge  of  the  hills  skirting  Lieu- 
tenant Run  to  New  Road,  or  Hickory 
street,  and  entered  this  road  a  hundred 
or  two  more  yards  east  of  the  bridge, 
then  marched  westwardly  to  within  a  few 
yards  of  the  bridge  over  this  run  and 
then  filed  northwardly  down  the  ravine 
on  the  east  side  of  the  run  to  Hannon's 
(now  Jackson's)  old  ice  pond,  here  en- 
tered a  military  foot  path  leading  along 
the  pond  eastward  to  the  head  of  the  pond, 
thence  filed  eastwardly  up  a  ravine  along 
the  same  military  foot  path  to  the  Jeru- 
salem plank  road.  We  are  now  at  a 
point  a  few  feet  from  the  southwestern 
corner  of  the  Jewish  cemetary  of  today, 
and  the  position  of  the  foot  path  in  this 
ravine  along  which  we  came  is  yet  plainly 
marked. 

At  the  plank  road  we  are  halted  and 
countermarch  by  regiments,  thereby 
placing  each  regiment  with  its  left  in 
front.  Here  we  see  on  the  roadside  Gen. 
Mahone,  with  other  officers,  dismounted, 
their  horses  standing  near  by.  Mahone 
had  then  reported  to  Gen.  Beauregard  at 
the  headquarters  of  Gen.  Johnson,  which 
were  at  the  old  house  which  until  a  few 
years  ago  stood  on  the  crest  of  the  hill  a 
short  distance  northwest  from  the  north- 
west corner  of  Blandford  cemetery  and 
near  the  road  leading  southwardly 
up  the  hill  to  the  cemetary.  It  -was  now 
about  half  past  eight  o'clock,  and  the 
enemy  were  just  as  they  had  been  for 
nearly  four  hours,  in  quiet  occupation  of 


tlie  crater,  with  about  oue  hundred  aud 
fifty  yards  of  our  breastworks  to  the 
south  and  some  two  hundred  yards  of 
these  works  to  the  north  of  the  Crater, 
reaching  down  to  the  foot  of  the  hill  on 
the  north  side.  To  these  limits  on  either 
side  the  Confederates  occupying  the  lines 
north  and  south  of  the  Crater  confined 
them. 

Gen.  Mabone,  having  had  the  regiments 
countermarch  at  the  Jerusalem  plank 
road,  goes  ahead  along  the  covered  way 
leading  directly  across  the  road,  south- 
eastward^ to  the  ravine  in  rear  and  west 
of  the  Confederate  works  *iow  occupied 
by  the  enemy.  Ascending  the  little 
knoll  at  the  point  where  the  ravineis  en- 
tered by  another  smaller  ravine  or  gully, 
into  which  the  zig-zag  covered  way  led 
and  terminated,  he  sees  the  Confederate 
works  rilled  to  overflowing  with  Federal 
troops,  and,  counting  eleven  regimental 
flags,  estimates  the  Federal  force  in  pos- 
session as  at  least  3.00U  men.  The  situa- 
tion is  an  extremely  grave  one.  His  own 
little  force  of  two  brigades  then  ap- 
proaching in  the  covered  way,  if  assailed 
in  this  position,  would  be  inevitably  cut 
to  pieces  and  destroyed.  So  Mahone 
orders  Courier  J.  H.  Blakemore  to  go  at 
once  back  aud  bring  up  the  Alabama 
brigade  (Saunders')  to  come  by  the  same 
route  which  the  Virginia  and  Georgia 
brigades  had  taken. 

Whilst  Gen.  Mahone  is  at  the  knoll 
surveying  the  enemy  and  arranging  for 
the  attack,  we  are  cautiously  approach- 
ing the  ravine  along  the  covered  way. 
At  the  angles,  where  the  enemy  could  see 
a  moving  column  with  ease,  the  men  are 
ordered  to  run  quickly  by,  one  man  at  a 
time;  which  was  done  for  the  double  pur- 
pose of  concealing  the  approach  of  a 
body  of  troops  and  of  lessening  the  dan- 
ger of  passing  rifle  balls  at  these  exposed 
points. 

I  should  have  mentioned  that  there  was 
constant  shelling  as  we  moved  along  our 
route  from  the  breastworks  at  Wilcox's 
farm,  but  we  were  well  protected  by  the 
•  shelter  of  intervening  hills.  As  we 
passed  the  Hannon  pond,  I  remember 
seeing  a  solid  shot,  or  shell,  fired  from 
one  of  the  enemy's  guns  descend  into  the 
8n* 


water  but  a  few  feet  from    our    moving 
line. 

Arriving  at  the  ravine,  we  found  Gen. 
Mahone  standing  near  the  mouth  of  the 
gully  into  which  the  covered  way  led 
and  along  which  we  were  filing  into  the 
ravine,  now  and  then  exchanging  a  word 
of  encouragement  with  some  passing  offi- 
cer or  man  in  the  ranks.* 

In  this  ravine  are  some  artillery  men, 
with  one  or  more  mortars  in  position, 
and  I  have  a  strong  impression  that  I  saw 
skirting  the  slope  of  the  hill  a  slight,  line 
of  breastworks  which  looked  as  if  it  had 
been  made  that  morning  for  temporary 
shelter  by  men  working  with  their  bayo- 
nets. 

Soon  the  line  of  battle  is  formed  ;  the 
12th  Virginia  on  the  left  of  the  brigade, 
the  6th  Virginia  on  the  right,  the  bri- 
gade sharp-shooters  on  the  right  of  the 
6  th.  The  middle  regiments  were  the 
16th,  the  41st  and  61st,  the  61st  being 
the  center  regiment. 

On  the  field  today  may  be  seen  a  tree 
that  marks  the  position  of  the  right  of 
this  line  of  battle. 

The  line  formed,  we  advanced  some 
twenty  yards  up  the  slope  of  the  hill  and 
lie  flat  on  our  faces.  In  this  position  we 
are  concealed  from  the  view  of  the  ene- 
my, now  two  hundred  yards  in  our  front. 

Our  brigade  is  under  the  command  of 
Col.  D.  A.  Weisiger,  colonel  of  the  12th, 
whilst  the  12th  is  commanded  by  Capt. 
Richard  W.  Jones,  the  6th  by  Col.  Geo. 
T.  Rogers,  the  16th  by  Capt.  L.  R.  Kil- 
by,  the  41st  by  Major  Wm.  H.  Ethe- 
ridge  and  the  61st  by  Lieut.  Col.  Wm. 
H.  Stewart.  The  sharp-shooters  are 
•commanded  by  Capt.  Wallace  Broadbent. 
A  few  minutes  after  we  take  the  recum- 
bent position,  Capt.  Drury  A.  Hinton, 
acting  aid-de-camp  to  Col.  Weisiger, 
walks  along  the  line  and  directs  the  regi- 
mental officers  to  instruct  their  men  to 
reserve  their   fire   until   the    enemy  are 


*"Filing  down  the  reinforcing  ditch  that  ran 
perpendicular  to  the  works,"  says  Lieut.  W. 
A.S.Taylor,  adjutant  of  the  61st  Virginia  regi- 
ment, in  a  statement  made  July  16, 1880,  "I  saw 
Gen.  Mahone  at  the  angle  formed  by  this  ditch 
and  the  one  that  ran  parallel  to  the  works.  As 
we  filed  to  the  right  he  made  some  encourag- 
ing remarks,  adding  'Give  them  the  bayo- 
net1 ". 


4 


reached.  As  soon  as  Captain  Hint  on 
passed  down  the  line  Captain  Jones  step- 
ped out  in  front  of  us,  as  we  lay  on  the 
ground,  and,  with  great  coolness  of  man- 
ner, said  :  "Men,  you  are  called  upon  to 
eharge  and  recapture  our  works,  now  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  They  are  only 
about  one  hundred  yards  distant.  The 
enemy  can  fire  but  one  volley  before  the 
works  are  reached.  At  the  command 
'forward'  every  man  is  expected  .  to  rise 
and  move  forward  at  a  double-quick  and 
with  a  yell.  Every  man  is  expected  to 
do  his  duty." 

This  short  address,  delivered  under  the 
gravest  of  circumstances,  wasimpiessive 
in  the  extreme,  and  well  calculated  to 
nerve  up  the  men  to  do  their  best  work. 
The  words  and  manner  of  the  speaker 
sank  deep  in  my  memory. 

How  Captain  Jones  came  to  deliver 
this  address  is  explained  in  a  letter  writ- 
ten by  him  to  General  Mahone  from  Ox- 
ford, Miss.,  under  date  of  January  3rd, 
1877: 

'"On  getting  my  regiment  in  position  in 
the  ravine  your  courier  delivered  me  a 
message  to  report  to  you  at  the  right 
of  the  brigade.  I  went  immediately,  walk- 
ing in  front  of  the  brigade,  and  found  all  of 
the  other  regimental  commanders  before  you 
when  I  arrived.  At  that  moment  you  gave 
the  order  to  have  the  Georgia  brigade  moved 
up  rapidly  to  its  position  on  the  right  of  the 
Virginia  brigade,  and  then  turning  to  the  of- 
ficers you  delivered  a  stirring  address  to  this 
effect:  'The  enemy  have  our  works.  The  line 
of  men  which  we  have  here  is  the  only  bar- 
rier to  the  enemy's  occupying  the  city  of  Pe- 
tersburg. There  is  nothing  to  resist  his  ad- 
vance. Upon  us  devolves  the  duty  of  driving 
him  from  his  strong  position  in  our  front  and 
re-establishing  the  Confederate  lines.  "We 
must  carry  his  position  immediately  by  as- 
saulting it.  If  we  don't  carry  it  byithe  firstjat- 
tack  we  shall  renew  the  attack  as  long  as  there 
is  a  man  of  us  left  or  until  the  works  are  ours. 
Much  depends  upon  prompt,  vigorous,  simul- 
taneous movements.'  I  do  not  profess  to  give 
your  words,  but  your  address  and  orders  were 
given  with  such  peculiar  emphasis  and  under 
such  impressive  circumstances  that  the  senti- 
ments were  indelibly  inscribed  on  my  mind.  I 
at  once  placed  myself  in  front  of  my  command 
and  had  bayonets  fixed,  I  explained  to  them 
the  character  of  our  work  and  perilous  posi- 
tion of  our  army." 

"The  works  are  only  one  hundred 
yards  distant,"  said  Capt.   Jones  :   a  for 


tunate  mistake.     They  were,  in  point  of 
ftct,  two  hundred  yards  distant.* 

"The  enemy  can  fire  but  one  volley 
before  the  works  are  reached. "  A  timely 
reminder  was  this,  as,  whilst  advising 
the  men  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation, 
it  warned  them  of  the  great  import- 
ance of  a  quick  movement  towards  the 
foe.f 

Let  me  here  mention  all  incident  : 
Lying  next  on  my  right  was  a  young 
friend,  Emmet  Butts,  a  member  of  the 
bar  of  our  city.  His  proper  position  was 
on  my  left.  Having  a  superstitious  be- 
lief that  the  •  safest  place  for  a  man  in 
battle  is  generally  his  proper  place,  I  said 
to  my  friend,  "Emmet,  suppose  we 
change  places  ?  I  am  in  yours,  and  you 
in  mine."  "Certainly,"  was  his  reply, 
with  a  pleasant  smile,  and  we  then 
changed  places.  I  never  saw  the  poor 
fellow  alive  afterwards.  Soon  after 
reaching  the  works  he  fell,  his  forehead 
pierced  with  a  minnie  ball. 

Immediately  after  Captain  Jones  de- 
livered his  address  the  expected  com- 
mand "forward"  was  given — by  whom  I 
could  not  of  my  personal  knowledge  say. 
Each  man  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  moved 
forward,  as  commanded,  at  a  double- 
quick,  and  with  a  yell. 

The  line  was  about  100  yards  in  length 
when  it  started  forward,  but  with  the 
men  moving  at  slightly  different  paces 
and  lengthening  out  a  little  on  the  right 
as  the  right  regiments  and  sharp-shooters 
obliqued  to  the  right  towards  the  crater, 
before  we  were  half  across  the  field,  the 
line  had  probably  lengthened  a  hundred 
or  two  feet,  and    widened   to  twenty  feet 


*For  twenty-three  years  my  impression 
and  belief  was  that  the  works  were  about  one 
hundred  yards  distant.  In  June  of  1888  I 
visited  the  ground  and  carefully  noted  it.  To 
my  amazement  I  discovered  that  the  distance 
was  double  what  I  would  have  sworn  it  was. 
So  surprised  was  I  at  this  discovery  I  asked 
several  of  my  comrades  who  were  in  the 
charge  what  was  their  recollection  as  to  the 
distance,  and  found  that  several  of  them,  like 
myself,  thought  the  distance  only  100  yards. 

+  Captain  Jones,  afterwards  major  of  the 
12th,  having  received  a  copy  of  this  portion  of 
this  address,  writes  as  follows :  "I  think  you 
give  the  substance  of  my  orders  except  that  I 
charged  them  (my  command)  specially  to  fix 
bayonets  and  not  to  stop  to  fire  a  gun  until  we 
were  at  the  works." 


or  more,  and  the  men  thus  moving  for- 
ward with  open  ranks,  no  spectacle  of 
war  could  well  have  been  more  inspirit- 
ing than  the  impetuous  charge  of  this 
column  of  veterans,  every  man  of  whom 
appreciated  the  vital  importance  of  get- 
ting to  the  works  and  closing  with  the 
enemy  in  the  quickest  possible  time,  every 
man  feeling  that  to  halt  or  falter  for  a 
moment  on  the  way  was  fatal. 

The  charge  was  probably  as  splendid 
as  any  of  which  history  has  made  record. 
Just  as  we  were  well  over  the  brow  of 
the  hill,  I  cast  my  eyes  to  the  right,  and 
I  will  ever  carry  a  vivid  impression  of 
the  rapid,but  steady  and  beautiful,  move- 
ment of  the  advancing  line  of  some  8O4) 
men — the  greater  part  of  whom,  being  to 
my  right,  were  within  the  range  of  my 
vision — as  our  five  Virginia  regiments, 
their  five  battle-flags,  borne  by  as  many 
gallant  color-bearers,  floating  in  the 
bright  sunlight  of  that  July  morning,  and 
the  battalion  of  sharp-shooters  double- 
quicked  across  the  field  they  were  uncon- 
sciously making  famous. 

A  Federal  soldier  thus  describes  the 
charge : 

"The  second  brigade  had  hardly  raised  their 
heads  when  the  cry  broke  out  from  our  men, 
'The  rebels  are  charging-.  Here  they  come.' 
Looking  to  the  front  1  saw  a  splendid  line  of 
gray  coming  up  the  ravine  on  the  run.  Their 
left  was  nearly  up  to  the  bomb-proofs,  and 
their  line  extended  off  into  the  smoke  as  far 
as  we  could  see.  They  were  coming,  and  com- 
ing with  a  rusb.  We  all  saw  that  they  were 
going  straight  for  the  second  brigade."  See 
address  of  Lieut.  Freeman  S.  Bowley,  deliv- 
ered Movember  6, 1889,  before  the  California 
commandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  the 
United  States. 

Getting  within  ten  paces  of  the  ends 
of  the  little  ditches  or  traverses,  which 
led  out  perpendicularly  from  the  main 
trench  of  our  breastworks  some  ten  or 
fifteen  paces,  to. my  surprise  I  saw  a  ne- 
gro soldier  setting  up  from  a  recumbent 
position  on  the  ground  near  my  feet.  He 
was  the  first  colored  soldier  I  ever  saw, 
and  this  was  my  first  knowledge  of  the 
fact  that  negro  troops  were  before  us.  I 
had  not  then  fired  my  rifle,  and  I  might 
easily  have  killed  this  man,  but  regard- 
ing him  as  a  prisoner  I  had  no  disposition 
to  hurt  him.  Looking  then  directly 
ahead  of  me,  within  thirty  feet  of  where 
I  stood,  I  saw  in  the  trench  of  the  breast- 
works crowds  of  men,  white  and    black, 


with  arms  in  their  hands,  as  closely 
jammed  and  packed  together  as  ^e  some 
times  see  pedestrians  on  the  crowded 
sidewalk  of  a  city,  and  seemingly  in 
great  confusion  and  alarm.  I  distinctly 
noticed  the  countenances  and  rolling  eyes 
of  the  terror-stricken  negroes.  I  par- 
ticually  noticed  in  the  hands  of  one  of 
the  frightened  creatures  the  new  silk  of 
a  large  and  beautiful  stand  of  colors,  the 
staff  swaying  to  and  fro  as  the  color- 
bearer,  his  eyes  fixed  in  terrified  gaze  at 
his  armed  adversaries,  was  being  pushed 
and  j'  stled  by  his  comrades.  With  my 
gun  still  loaded  I  might  have  fired  into 
this  mass  of  men,  but  I  regarded  these 
also  as  practically  our  prisoners.  Cast- 
ing my  eyes  upon  the  ground  over  and 
beyond  the  brestworks — east  of  them  I 
mean — I  there  saw  large  numbers  of  the 
enemy  retreating  to  their  own  brestworks. 
Many,  however,  were  taking  shelter  be- 
hind, that  is,  on  the  east  side,  or  out  side, 
of  our  breastworks,  as  I  could  see  from 
the  tops  of  their  caps,  just  over  the 
parapet.  Into  a  squad  of  those  I  saw 
retreating  to  their  own  works  I  fired  my 
rifle,  and  not  stopping  to  note  the  dam- 
age done  by  my  shot,  or  to  enquire  who 
was  thereby  hurt,  I  jumped  into  one  of 
the  little  ditches  leading  out  from  the 
main  trench.  This  ditch  was  about  as 
deep  as  I  was  high  and  about  eighteen 
inches  wide.  Proceeding  down  it  to- 
wards the  trench,  or  main  ditch,  I  was 
suddenly  confronted  by  a  negro  soldier  at 
the  other  end  of  it,  standing  with  his 
gun  pointed  towards  me  at  "a  ready," 
and  looking  me  in  the  face  with  a  grin 
on  his. 

As  may  be  imagined,  I  was  now  in 
quite  a  predicament.  What  should  I 
do?  Shoot  the  fellow  I  could  not 
— my  gun,  having  been  just  fired, 
was  empty.  Bayonet  him  I  could  not, 
as  I  had  no  bayonet  on  my  gun.  I  had 
lost  my  bayonet  at  the  battle  of  the  Wil- 
derness, and  glad  of  having  done  so,  as  I 
was  thus  lawfully  relieved  of  that  much 
weight  on  a  march,  I  had  never  bothered 
myself  about  getting  another,  never  hav- 
ing expected  to  get  close  enough  to  an 
armed  enemy  to  need  < it.  Nor  could  I 
club  this  man — the    narrowness    of    the 


ditch  prevented.  Nor  could  I  turn  my 
back  upon  him  with  safety.  But  there 
was  a  protecting  hand  to  save  me.  Just 
in  front  of  me,  and  to  my  right,  was  a 
large  recess  in  the  earth,  perpendicular 
to  the  little  ditch  in  which  I  stood  and 
parallel  to  the  main  ditch  or  trench,  large 
enough  for  a  horse  to  stand  in,  say,  eight 
feet  in  length,  four  in  width  and  of  the 
same  depth  with  the  little  ditch.  Into 
this  recess,  by  a  rapid  stride  to  my  front 
and  right,  I  made  my  way  and  there  load- 
ed my  rifle  in  the  quickest  possible  time — 
no  muzzle-loader  was  ever  loaded  in  less 
time.  I  was  now  less  than  five  feet  from 
a  trench  full  of  Federal  soldiers  with  arms 
in  their  hands,  and  was  in  a  position 
critical  and  perilous  in  the  extreme. 

Just  as  I  got  into  this  place,  I  discov- 
ered near  me,  at  my  feet,  a  negro  soldier, 
who  immediately  began  to  most  earnestly 
beg  me  not  to  kill  him.  "Master,  don't 
kill  me  !  Master,  don't  kill  me  !  I'll  be 
your  slave  as  long  as  I  live.  Don't  kill  me !" 
he  most  piteously  cried,  whilst  I  was  rap- 
idly loading  my  gun  and  he  doubtless 
supposed  that  its  next  shot  was  intended 
for  himself  "Old  man,  I  do  not  intend 
to  kill  you,  but  you  deserve  to  be  killed," 
was  my  reply.  I  addressed  him  as  '  'old 
man, "  as  he  was  apparently  over  the  mil- 
itary age,  and  to  my  then  young  eyes 
seemed  old.  All  the  time  he  was  begging 
for  his  life  he  was  cringing  at  my  feet. 
As  soon  as  I  assured  him  I  did  not  projDose 
to  molest  him,  he  began  to  vigo- 
rously fan  a  poor  wounded  Confederate 
soldier,  doubtless  one  of  Elliott's  men 
who  held  the  breastworks  at  the  time  of 
the  explosion,  lying  on  his  back  appa- 
rently in  extremis.  I  thought  he 
was  dying.  Manifestly  the  old 
negro's  idea  was  that  this  attention  to  the 
helpless  Confederate  would  serve  to  pro- 
tect him  against  other  in  coming  Confed- 
erates. 

In  the  absence  of  evidence  as  to  his 
identity,  it  cannot  be  positively  affirmed 
that  this  old  fellow  was  not  the  ex- 
preacher  referred  to  by  Lieut.  Bowley  in 
his  address  before  the  California  com- 
mandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  the 
United  States  in  the  following  para- 
graph : 


'Among  the  sergeants  of  my  company  was 
one,  John  H.  Offer,  by  name,  who  had  been  a 
preacher  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland. 
He  exerted  great  influence  over  the  men,  and 
he  deemed  the  occasion  a  fitting  one  to  offer 
some  remarks,  and,  assuming  his  "Sunday 
voice,'  he  beaan: 

"Now  men,  dis  am  gwine  to  be  a  gret  fight. 
de  gretest  we  seen  yet;  gret  things  is  'pending 
on  dis  fight:  if  we  takes  Petersburg,  mos' 
likely  we'll  take  Richmond,  and  'stroy  Lee's 
army  an'  close  de  wah.  Eb'ry  man  had  orter 
lift'  up  his  soul  in  pra'r  for  a  strong  heart.  Oh, 
'member  de  pore  colored  peope  ober  dere  in 
bondage;  oh,  'member  dat  Gineral  Grant,  and 
Gineral  Burnside,  and  General  Meade,  an'  all 
de  gret  giuerals  is  right  ober  yander  a  watch- 
in'  ye,  and  'member  de  white  soldiers  is  a 
watchin'  ye,  an'  'member  dat  T&e  a  watchin1 
ye,  and  any  skulker  is  a  gwine  to  get  prod  ob 
dis  bayonet;  you  heah  me!' " 

About  the  time  I  got  my  rifle  loaded. 
Comrade  John  R.  Turner,  the  esteemed 
afljutant  of  our  camp,  then  a  member  of 
my  company,  came  into  the  recess,  and 
certainly  one  and  possibly  two  other  Con- 
federates.* 

Ready  now  to  give  the  enemy  a  shot, 
I  looked  around  the  corner  towards  the 
place  near  the  intersection  of  the  ditch 
with  the  trench  where  I  saw  the  fellow 
who  pointed  his  gun  and  grinned  at  me, 
but  he  was  not  to  be  seen.  All  I  could 
see  in  this  direction  were  the  ends  of 
rifles  and  bayonets  held  by  men  in  the 
trench  concealed  from  my  view  by  the 
angle  of  the  treuch  and  small  ditch. 
Whilst  I  was  making  this  observation,  a 
Federal  soldier  in  the  irench  near  this 
angle  fired  his  gun,  and  its  muzzle  was 
close  enough  to  the  dry  eartheu  angle  to 
make  the  dust  rise  in  the  air  as  the  wind 
of  the  exploding  rifle- charge  knocked 
away  a  part  of  the  sharp  corner  of  the 
trench  and  ditch  at  this  aocrle. 


*My  impression  has  always  been  that  Ser- 
geant W.  W.  Tayleure  (of  whom  hereafter) 
was  one  of  the  other  Confederates.  iSmce  this 
paragraph  was  written.  Sergeant  Tayleure 
(now  a  resident  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.)  has  vis- 
ited Petersburg  and  informed  me  that  my  im- 
pression was  correct,  as  he  distinctly  recollects 
the  old  negro's  vigorous  fanning  of  the 
wounded  Confederate  as  the  latter  would  say 
to  him.  "Damn  you,  fan  me  fast,"  and  the  old 
fellow  would  reDly,  "yes.  sir — yes,  sir;"  from 
the  use  of  which  language  by  the  wounded 
Confederate  we  may  safely  infer  that  he  was 
not  as  near  death's  door  as  for  over  twenty- 
five  years  I  believed  him  to  have  been,  but  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  he  is  today  somewhere  in 
this  world  alive  and  in  sound  health.  Strange 
to  say.  Sergeant  Tayleure  has  no  recollection 
of  seeing  either  Comrade  Turner  or  myself  in 
this  recess,  nor  does  Comrade  Turner  recollect 
seeing  Sergeant  Tayleure,  the  wounded  Con- 
federate or  the  old  negro. 


Finding  in  this  direction  nothing  at 
which  to  shoot,  although  only  a  wall  of 
some  five  feet  intervened  oetween  the 
place  where  I  stood  and  a  ditch  full  of 
men  in  blue,  I  stood  tip-toe  and  looked 
eastward  towards  the  ground  beyond  our 
breastworks.  Here  I  saw  numbers  of 
the  eDemy  crowdiag  behind  the  outer 
or  eastward  part  of  our  works  apparently 
three  or  four  deep,  the  tops  of  their  caps 
only  being  visible,  and  there  were  at  the 
same  time  others  of  the  enemy  retreat- 
ing across  the  open  field  between  our 
works  and  theirs,  and  at  these  I  fired 
this,  my  second  shot,  and  again  re- 
loaded. 

About  this  time  a  conference  took 
place  between  Comrade  Turner  and  my- 
self as  to  the  propriety  of  remaining  in 
the  place  where  we  then  stood.  The 
suggestion  was  made  that  we  fall  back  to 
our  line,  I  mean  that  part  of  it  repre- 
sented by  the  Petersburg  Riflemen,  all  or 
the  greater  part  of  whom,  we  believed, 
were  standing  or  lying  at  or  near  the 
ends  of  the  ditches  leading  out  from  the 
trench.  We  agreed,  however,  that  whilst 
we  were  in  a  very  dangerous  position,  it 
was  our  safest.  Besides  ihis,  a  back- 
ward movement,  by  even  as  few  as  two 
men,  might  have  started  others,  perhaps 
the  whole  line,  to  falling  back.  So  we 
concluded  to  remain  where  we  were. 
Had  we  attempted  to  fall  back,  we  would 
have  gone  from  a  position  in  which  we 
were  comparatively  safe  (unless  our 
whole  line  had  been  beaten  back)  to  one 
of  great  danger,  and  would  probably 
have  lost  our  lives. 

Both  of  us  now  fired  several  shots  from 
this  place,  probably  four  or  five.  I  then 
thought  I  would  take  an  enfilading  fire  at 
the  enemy  in  the  trench  to  my  right,  who 
wtre  in  plain  view,  there  being  an  angle 
in  the  breastworks  to  our  right,  the  re- 
cess in  which  Comrade  Turner  and  my- 
self stood  being  so  located  as  to  enable 
us,  when  on  tip-toe,  to  look  southeast- 
wardly  down  the  trench  towards  the  Cra- 
ter, some  seventy-five  yards  to  our  right. 
When  taking  a  survey  of  this  part  of  the 
trench  I  saw  men  struggling  there,  which 
indicated  that  some  of  our  men  opposite 
that  part  of  the  breastworks  had  effected 


an  entrance  therein.  Seeing  this  I  de- 
termined to  withhold  my  proposed  shot 
down  the  trench.  Just  at  this  time, 
looking  to  my  left,  I  saw  Federal  soldiers 
comiug  out  of,  and  many  of  our  men 
passing  into,  the  trench  along  the  little 
ditch  by  which  Comrade  Turner  and  my- 
self had  entered  ;  whereupon  I  went  at 
once  into  the  trench  into  which  the  Con- 
federates were  now  entering  in  num- 
bers from  the  litt  e  ditches  up  and  down 
the  line. 

Casting  my  eyes  up  the  line  towards 
the  Crater  I  saw  Confederates  beating  and 
shooting  at  the  negro  soldiers,  as  the  lat- 
ter, terror-stricken,  rushed  away  from 
them.  I  saw  one  negro  running  down 
the  trench  towards  the  place  where  sev- 
eral of  us  stood  and  a  Confederate  sol- 
dier just  in  his  rear  drawing  a  bead  on 
him  as  he  ran.  The  Confederate  fired  at 
the  poor  creature,  seemingly  heedless 
of  the  fact  that  his  bullet  might  have 
pierced  his  victim  and  struck  some  of 
the  many  Confederates  immediately  in  its 
range. 

A  minute  later  1  witnessed  another 
deed  which  made  my  blood  run  cold  : 
Just  about  the  outer  end  of  the  ditch  by 
which  1  had  entered  stood  a  negro  sol- 
dier, a  non-commissioned  officer  (I  no- 
ticed distinctly  his  cheverons),  begging 
for  his  life  two  Confederate  soldiers,  who 
stood  by  him,  one  of  them  striking  the 
poor  wretch  with  a  steel  ramrod,  the 
other  holding  a  gun  in  his  hand  with 
which  he  seemed  to  be  trying  to  get  a 
shot  at  the  negro.  The  man  with  the 
gun  fired  it  at  the  negro,  but  did  not 
seem  to  seriously  injure  him,  as  he  only 
clapped  his  hand  to  his  hip  where  he  ap- 
peared to  have  been  shot,  and  continued 
to  beg  for  his  life.  The  man  with  the 
ramrod  continued  to  strike  the  negro 
therewith,  whilst  r,he  fellow  with  the  gun 
deliberately  reloaded  it,  and  placing  its' 
muzzle  close  against  the  stomach  of  the 
poor  negro,  fired,  at  which  tne  latter  fell 
limp  and  lifeless  at  the  feet  of  the  two 
Confederates.  It  was  a  brutal,  horrible 
act,  and  those  of  us  who  witnessed  it 
from  our  position  in  the  trench  a  few 
feet  away  could  but  exclaim:  "That  is 
too  bad  !     It  is  shocking  !"     Yet    this,  I 


have  no  doubt,  from  what  I  saw  and 
afterwards  heard,  was  but  a  sam- 
ple of  many  other  bloody  tragedies 
during  the  first  ten  minutes  after  our 
men  got  into  the  trench,  many  of  whom 
seemed  infuriated  at  the  idea  of  having 
to  fight  negroes.  Within  these  ten  min- 
utes the  whole  floor  of  the  trench  was 
strewn  with  the  dead  bodies  of  negroes, 
in  some  places  in  such  numbers  that  it 
was  difficult  to  make  one's  way  along  the 
trench  without  stepping  upon  them. 

But  the  works  are  not  yet  ours.  To 
the  north  of  the  Crater  and  in  the  ditches 
immediately  behind  and  west  of  it  the 
Confederates  were  in  possession;  but  the 
Crater  itself  is  held  by  a  large  number  of 
the  enemy,  several  hundred  of  them,  not 
yet  ready  to  surrender.  There  were  also 
some  fifty  yards  of  our  works  south  of 
Crater  in  the  enemy's  possession.  To 
drive  out  these,  about  ten  o'clock 
— a  little  more  than  an  hour  af- 
ter the  charge  made  by  the  Vir- 
ginia brigade — Wright's  brigade  of  Geor- 
gians was  ordered  forward  from  the  same 
ravine  from  which  the  Virginia  charged, 
but  such  was  the  severity  of  the  fire  the 
men  of  this  gallant  brigade  were  forced 
to  oblique  to  the  left  and  take  shelter 
among  the  works  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
Virginians,  thus  failing  in  their  attempt. 
When  this  charge  was  about  to  be  made, 
the  Virginians  in  the  trench  were  noti- 
fied and  directed  to  fire  upon  the  enemy 
in  their  front  as  rapidly  as  possible,  in 
the  language  of  the  order,  "to  keep  their 
heads  down;"  an  order  which  was  obeyed 
with  a  will,  as  nearly  every  man  standing 
in  the  trench  was  supplied  with  several 
guns,  his  own,  and  one  or  more  of  the 
hundreds  of  captured  guns  which  lay  all 
along  the  trench.  Not  only  when  the 
charge  was  made,  but  all  of  the  time  after 
our  men  got  in  the  trench  did  they  fire 
from  our  breastworks  at  the  enemy  when- 
ever they  showed  themselves  along  the 
crest  or  rim  of  the  Crater,  as  they  con- 
stantly did,  or  whenever  they  attempted 
to  run  the  giuutlet  from  the  Crater  across 
the  field  to  their  own  works,  a  move- 
ment which  was  attempted  by  many  and 
by  some  successfully. 

About  the  crest  of  the  Crater   next  to 


theFederal  lines  might  be  seen  sometimes 
a  man  from  the  outside  climbing  over  to 
get  within  the  Crater  and  sometimes  a 
man  from  the  inside  climbing  over  to  get 
outside.  I  remember  seeing  a  gallant 
Federal  officer  mount  the  edge  of  theCra- 
ter  at  this  point  and  with  conspicuous 
bravery  wave  his  glittering  sword  over- 
head as  if  calling  on  his  men  to  follow 
him — a  sight  which  commanded  my  ad- 
miration, as  it  must  have  done  that  of 
all  who  witnessed  it. 

An  incident  occurred  about  this  time, 
or  a  little  later  in  the  morning,  that  I 
have  often  recalled.  Happening  in  my 
immediate  presence,  it  very  deeply  im- 
pressed me.  In  my  company  two  men, 
Orderly  Sergeant  W.  W.  Tayleure  and 
Private  Buck  Johnson,  of  the  Petersburg 
Riflemen,  came  very  near  having  a  per- 
sonal difficulty.  Tayleure  had  been  stand- 
ing on  the  step,  which  was  about  nine 
inches  above  the  floor  of  the  trench  and 
upon  which  all  men  of  ordinary  height' 
had  to  stand  m  order  to  be  able  to  shoot 
from  the  parapet,  and  had  been  firing  at 
the  enemy  from  this  position.  Just  at 
this  time  Buck  Johnson,  who  had  doubt- 
less been  engaged  in  the  same  way  else- 
where, and  who  was  never  known  to 
flinch,  bearing  a  splendid  reputation  as  a 
soldier,  as  indeed  did  Tayleure,  happened 
to  be  standing  on  the  floor  of  the  trench. 
Tayleure  asked  him  why  he  did  not  get 
up  on  the  step  and  fire  at  tne  enemy. 
Johnson's  high  spirit  promptly  resented 
the  imputation  against  his  courage  im- 
plied in  this  question  and  he  used  some 
very  strong  language  to  Tayleure.  One 
word  led  to  another,  and  the  two  men, 
both  being  of  approved  courage,  were 
about  to  come  to  blows,  when  Joe  Sacry, 
a  member  of  the  Richmond  Grays,  stand- 
ing on  the  little  step  above  mentioned, 
having  just  fired  his  gun,  received  a  bul- 
let in  his  head  and  fell  lifeless  at  the  feet 
of  the  two  men.  The  quarrel  instantly 
ceased.  Poor  Sacry's  bleeding  corpse 
substituted  profound  seriousness  in  the 
place  of  angry  words,  and  I  believe  the 
needless  quarrel  was  never  renewed. 
Both  Johnson  and  Tayleure  served  to 
maintain  on  several  subsequent  fields  of 
battle  the  good  name  that   each   had  al- 


ready  well  won  in  their  three  years  of 
active  service. 

Wright's  brigade  of  Georgians  about 
eleven  o'clock  is  called  upon  to  make 
another  attempt  to  carry  the  works  about 
the  Crater  and  south  of  it,  but  this  like 
the  first  attempt,  is  unsuccessful.  As 
on  the  occasion  of  the  first  charge,  word 
is  passed  down  the  line  to  the  men  in  the 
breastworks  to  fire  rapidly  to  keep  the 
enemy's  heads  down,  and  the  order  is  in 
like  manner  obeyed. 

What  has  been  going  on  in  the  Crater? 
Those  who  were  in  it  can  best  tells  us, 
and  I  may,  therefore,  properly  draw  from 
the  interesting  address  of  Lieutenant 
Bowley  above  referred  to.  Here  is  what 
he  says: 

"With  a  dozen  of  my  own  company  I  went 
own  the  traverse  to  the  crater.  We  were 
the  last  to  reach  it,  and  the  rifles  of  the  Union 
soldiers  were  flashing  in  our  faces  when  we 
jumped  down  in  there,  and  the  Johnnies  were 
not  twenty  yards  behind  us.  A  full  line 
around  crest  of  the  crater  were  loading'  and 
firing  as  fast  as  they  could,  and  the  men  were 
dropping  thick  and  fast,  most  of  them  shot 
through  the  head.  Every  man  that  was  shot 
rolled  down  the  steep  sides  to  the  bottom,  and 
in  places  they  were  piled  up  four  and  five 
deep.  For  a  few  minutes  the  fire  was  fear- 
fully sharp.  Then  the  enemy  sought  shelter. 
The  cries  of  the  wounded,  pressed  down  under 
the  dead,  were  piteous  in  the  exireme.  An 
enfilading  fide  was  coming  through  the  traverse 
down  which  we  had  retreated.  General  Bart- 
lett  ordered  the  colored  troops  to  build  a 
breastworks  across  it.  They  commenced  the 
work  by  throwing  up  lumps  of  clay,  but  it  was 
slow  work;  some  one  called  out,  "Put  in  the 
dead  men,1  and,  acting  on  this  suggestion,  a 
large  number  of  dead,  white  and  black.  Union 
and  rebel,  were  piled  into  the  trench.  This 
made  a  partial  shelter,  and  enabled  the  work- 
ing party  to  strengthen  their  breastworks. 
Cartridges  were  running  low,  and  we  searched 
the  boxes  of  all  the  dead  and  wounded. 

"The  day  was  fearfully  hot;  the  wounded 
were  crying  for  water,  anl  the  canteens  were 
empty.  A  few  of  our  troops  held  a  ditch  a 
few  feet  in  front  of  the  crater  and  were  keep- 
ing up  a  brisk  fire.  In  the  little  calm  that 
followed,  we  loaded  a  large  number  of  mus- 
kets and  placed  them  in  readiness  lor  instant 
use.  Another  movement  was  soon  attempted 
by  the  enemy,  but  our  fire  was  so  sharp  that 
they  hastily  sought  cover  The  artifiiery  on 
Cemetery  Hill  and  Wright's  Battery  kept  up  a 
constant  fire  of  grape  and  kept  the  dirt  flying 
about  us.  A.  mortar  battery  also  opened  .on 
us,  after  a  few  shots,  they  got  our  range  so 
well  that  the  shells  fell  directly  among  us. 
Many  of  them  did  not  explode  at  all,  but  a  few 
burst  directly  over  us  and  cut  the  men  down 
most  crueliy.  Many  of  the  troops  now  at- 
tempted to  make  our  lines,  but,  to  leave,  they 
had  to  run  up  a  slope  in  full  view  of  the 
enemy,  that  now  surrounded  us  on  three 
sides,  nearly  every  man  who  attempted  it  fell 
back  riddled  with  bullets.  At  11  o'clock  a 
determined  charge  was  made  by  the  enemy: 
we  repulsed  it,  but  when   the   fire   slackened 


the  ammunition  was  fearfully  low.  About 
this  time  two  men,  each  carrying  all  the  car- 
tridges he  could  manage  in  a  piece  of  shelter 
tent,  reached  us. 

"The  white  troops,"  continues  Lieutenant 
Bowley,"were  now  exhausted  and  discouraged. 
Leaving  the  line,  they  sat  down,  facing  in- 
wards,and  neither  threats  nor  entreaties  could 
get  them  up  into  line  again.  In  vain  was  the 
cry  raised  that  all  would  be  killed  if  captured 
with  negro  soldiers;  they  would  not  stand  up. 
From  this  time  on  the  fire  was  kept  up,  mainly, 
by  the  colored  troops  and  officers  handling 
muskets.  A  few  Indians,  of  the  1st  Michigan 
Sharpshooters,  did  splendid  work.  Some  of 
them  were  mortally  wounded,  and  drawing 
their  blouses  over  their  faces,  they  chanted  a 
death  ^ong  and  died— four  of  them  in  a  group. 
An  attempt  had  been  made  to  dig  a  trench 
through  the  side  of  the  crater  towards  the 
Union  line,  but  the  rebs  got  the  range  of  that 
hole,  and. plugged  the  bullets  into  it  so  thick 
and  fast  that  no  one  would  work  in  it.  Of  the 
men  of  my  company  who  had  rallied  with  me, 
all  but  one,  a  sergeant,  lay  dead  or  dying.  The 
troops  seemed  utterly  apathetic  and  indiffer- 
ent The  killing  of  a  comrade  by  their  very 
sides  would  not  rouse  them  in  the  least.  Be- 
tween 1  and  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  our  men 
in  the  ditch,  wutside  the  crater,  had  expended 
all  their  ammunition,  and  were  quickly  cap- 
tured. Then  the  rebels  planted  their  battle 
flags  on  the  edge  of  the  crater,  front  and  both 
flanks,  not  six  feet  from  our  men.  They 
quickly  pulled  them  back,  but  we  knew  that 
they  were  there,  just  on  the  other  side  of  the 
clay  bank.  Muskets,  with  bayonets,  were 
pitched  back  and  forth,  harpo<  >n  style.  In  this 
last  movement  the  Confederates  exposed 
themselves  most  fearlessly,  and  had  all  our 
men  stood  up  at  that  time,  th  rebel  loss  would 
have  been  much  more  severe.  I  have  good 
reason  to  believe  that  my  own  revolver  did 
some  effective  work  at  this  point." 

Here  ends  Lieutenant  Bowley's  account 
of  what  was  transpiring  in  the  Crater, 
and  I  will  resume  the  narrative  from  our 
standpoint. 

It  is  now  about  one  o'clock.  We  re- 
ceive another  order  to  keep  the  enemy's 
heads  down.  A  charge  is  about  10  be 
made,  this  time  by  the  Alabama  brigade, 
Gen.  Saunders,  who  form  in  the  ravine 
from  which  the  Virginians  had  charged, 
but  farther  south  and  accordingly  more 
nearly  opposite  the  Crater  The  charge 
is  successful — those  who  witnessed  it  say 
it  was  splendidly  executed.  The  works 
are  surrendered,  and  the  prisoners  pour 
out,  making  their  way  back,  however, 
under  a  severe  fire  from  their  own  batte- 
ries, some  of  them  falling  on  the  way. 

What  was  here  transpiring  those  of  us 
in  the  breatworks  to  the  north  of  the 
Crater  could  not  see,  but  we  immediately 
knew  the  result  of  the  charge. 

t  rom  this  time  during  the  balance  of 
the    day    everything     is    comparatively 


10 


quiet.  When  night  came  on  we  are 
made  to  fall  in  line  and  move  up  the 
trench  towards  our  right.  In  the  trench 
that  led  around  and  to  the  rear  of  the 
Crater,  dead  men  lie  so  thick  that  to  walk 
along  without  stepping  upon  their  bodies 
or  limbs  was  very  difficult. 

Our  movement  to  the  right  is  ended 
when  we  have  been  so  shifted  as  to 
bring  the  Riflemen  immediately  in  rear  of 
the  Crater.  Here  we  are  halted  and  a 
detail  of  two  or  more  men  from  each 
company  is  called  for.  Of  this  detail  it 
falls  to  my  lot  to  be  one.  What  is  to  be 
done  ?  The  dead  are  to  be  buried  !  Aud 
this  detail  is  to  do  the  work  !  My  horror 
can  be  better  imagined  than  described. 
Before  work  commenced,  somebody — 
who  I  do  not  know,  but  some  one  whose 
authoritity  and  orders  in  the  premises, 
legal  or  illegal.  I  was  prompt  to  recog- 
nize and  obey — came  aloug  and  put  me 
in  charge  of  a  burying  squad.  I  congrat- 
ulated myself  that  I  had  no  nearer  con- 
nection with  this  disagreeable  work.  In 
a  big  grave,  not  a  hundred  feet  in  rear  of 
the  Crater,  a  large  number  of  the  bodies 
were  placed.  The  work  was  done  by  a 
squad  of  negro  prisoners.  In  the  gray 
light  of  morning  I  went  into  the  Crater 
and  there  I  saw  the  burying  parties  in 
this  place  still  at  work. 

This  gloomy  night's  work  had  at  least 
one  humorous  incident.  Our  worthy 
commander,  Comrade  Hugh  R.  Smith, 
then  adjutant  of  the  12th,  I  am  glad  to 
know,  lives  today  to  vouch  for  the  cor- 
rectness of  what  I  am  about  to  narrate: 

Comrade  Smith  had  selected  for  his 
night's  rest  a  grassy  spot  near  the  men 
in  the  trench,  all  of  whom  except  those 
on  guard  or  special  duty  were  fast  asleep, 
and  like  them  was  wrapt  in  the  arms  of 
Morpheus.  He  had  the  advantage  ot  his 
sleeping  comrades  in  that  he  had  a  soft 
and  cool  bed  of  grass  upon  which  to  rest, 
but  he  was  in  close  vicinity  to  the  pile  of 
dead  men  then  being  buried.  Things, 
however,  were  fairly  evened  up,  when, 
some  time  during  the  small  hours  of  the 
night,  one  of  the  negro  prisoners,  looking 
out  for  a  corpse  to  bury,  seized  our  gal- 
lant adjutant  by  the  ankle  and  was  hur- 
rying him  to  the  grave,  when    the    adju- 


tant, not  then  ready  to  be  buried,  awoke 
to  the  great  consternation  of  the  poor 
prisoner,  who  thought  he  was  handling  a 
genuine  corpse. 

It  is  Sunday  morning,  and  breakfast 
time.  Are  we  to  eat  in  this  horrible  place, 
the  air  .filled  with  offensive  odors 
from  the  presence  of  hundreds  of 
bodies,  still  un buried,  many  of  them 
within  a  radius  of  a  few  feet  from  -us  1 
Yes,  or  starve.  My  messmate  and  my- 
self, I  well  remember,  made  our  break- 
fast on  hard-tack  and  fried  pickle-pork. 
My  impression  is  we  had  no  coffee.  I 
have  a  distinct  recollection  that  the  meal 
was  not  enjoyed. 

It  is  in  order  just  here  to  reproduce 
for  what  they  are  worth  as  a  contempor- 
ary record  the  following  entries  in  my 
diary,  the  first  made  during  the  af- 
ternoon of  this  day,  the  others  on  the 
days  of  their  respective  dates  : 

"Sundav.  July  31,  '64.  Yesterday  witnessed  a 
bloody  drama  around  Petersburg,  perhaps  as 
bloody  as  any  affair  of  tne  war.  Fort  Pillow 
not  excepted.  At  this  point,  about  half  a  mile 
southeast  of  the  Old  Blandford  church. the  ene- 
my exploded  a  mine  under  a  tort  in  our  works, 
blowing  up  4  pieces  of  Pegram's  battery  with 
two  lieutenants,  Lieutenants  Hamlin  and 
Chandler,  and  twenty -two  meD,  together  with 
five  companies  of  the  18th  S.  C.  regiment,  El- 
liott's brigade,  whereupon  they  immediately 
rushed  upon  and  captured  that  portion  of  our 
works  and  about  two  hundred  yards  of  the 
works  t<>  the  left  of  the  exploded  portion. 
This  occurred  soon  after  sunrise,  soon  after 
which  our  brigade  and  Wright's,  which  occu- 
pied the  extreme  right  of  our  line,  were  put 
in  motion  for  this  point,  approaching  it  cau- 
tiously by  the  military  roads  recently  con- 
structed. We  were  not  long  in  le  rning  that 
our  brigade  would  be  assigned  ihe  task  of  cap- 
turing the  works,  supported  by  Wright.  Ar- 
riving opposite  the  works,  fortunately  just  at 
the  moment,  we  were  about  to  charge,  the  ene- 
my were  also  about  to  charge,  when,  seizing 
our  advantage  and  rising  with  a  yell  we  rushed 
forward  and  got  into  the  works  about  one  hun- 
dred yards  distant,  receiving  but  little  tire 
from  the  enemy,  who  turned  out  to  be  ne- 
groes! The  scene  now  baffles  description. 
Hut  little  quarter  was  shown  them.  My  heart 
sickened  at  deeds  I  saw  done.  Our  brigade 
not  driving  the  enemy  from  ihe  inner  portion 
of  the  exploded  mine,  Saunders  and  Wright's 
brigades  finished  the  work.  I  have  never  seen 
such  slaughter  on  any  battlefield.  Our  regi- 
ment lost  27,  killed  and  wounded,  the  majority 
of  whom  were  killed  and  among  them  Emmet 
Butts,  of  our  company.  Put  Stith,  of  our 
company,  was  wounded.  Colonel  Weisiger, 
commanding  the  brigade,  was  wounded. 
From  what  I  have  seen,  the  enemy's  loss 
could  not  have  been  less  than  from  500  to  700 
killed,  to  say  nothing  of  those  wounded 
and  between  live  hundred  and  one  thousand 
prisoners.  Ours  probably  did  not  exceed  400 
killed,  wounded  and  missing.  Negotiations 
under  a  flag  of  truce  are  now  pending.    Prob- 


11 


ably  Grant  wants  to  bury  the  dead  between 
the  lines.  Permission  was  granted  to  water 
his  wounded.  I  observed  several  citizens 
from  the  enemy's  line  take  part  in  this  act  of 
humanity.  They  were  probably  members  of 
the  sanit a  y  committee.  I  saw  also  a  woman 
standing  in  the  Yankee  breastworks.  We  in- 
dulge a  hope  that  our  brigade  will  be  relieved 
tonight  and  return  to  its  quiet  position  on  the 
right." 

•'Tuesday,  August  2,  1864.  Back  at  Wilcox's 
farm.  Our  brigade  and  Saunders'  relieved 
last  night.  Truce  for  four  hours  yesterday 
morning  for  burying  the  dead  between  the 
lines.  Express  of  this  morning  states  that 
12  of  our  men  were  found  between  the  lines 
and  about  7U0  of  the  enemy.  There  could  not 
have  been  as  many  as  700.  We  made  the  ne- 
gro prisoners  carry  their  dt  ad  comrades  to  the 
Xankee  line,  where  the  Yankees  made  their 
negroes  bury  them.  Loss  in  our  regiment  18 
kd.  and  24  wd.  The  6th  regiment  lost  70  kd. 
and  wd.  out  of  80  carried  in  the  tight.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  regiment  was  on  picket.  Cp. 
C  ot  sharpshooters,  a  detachment  from  the 
12th,  lost  out  of  fifteen  5  kd.  and  8  wd.  The 
enemy  admit  a  loss  of  over  4,000.  Col.  Thomas, 
commanding  one  of  the  negro  br;gades,  told 
Capt  Jones  (ot  our  regiment)  yesteiday  dur- 
ing the  truce  that  he  canied  in  2,200  men  and 
brought  out  only  800. 

"It  is  said  we  cantured  20  flags  from  the  ene- 
my and  that  the  prisoners  captured  repre- 
sented two  corps— 9th  (Burnside's)  and  2nd 
(Hancock's). 

.  "Thursday,  August  5.  Yankee  accounts  of 
the  affair  put  their  loss  in  kd.,  wd.  and  pris- 
oners at  5.000  They  say  I  he  pian  was  to  spring 
a  mine  at  3  o'clock  Saturday  morning,  but  that 
the  fuse  failed  to  ignite  tiie  powder  twice — 
that  they  had  six  tons  of  powder  in  the  mine. 
The  9  h  aud  18th  corps  made  the  charge  and 
the  oth  was  in  reserve.  Our  losses  foot  up 
1,200.  of  which  300  are  no  doubt  prisoners,  the 
enemy  claiming  to  have  taken  that  number." 

"Saturday.  August  6.  The  loss  of  our  bri- 
gade in  the  fight  of  s-aturda.  was  270  Kd.,  wd. 
and  missing,  of  whom  88  were  killed  on  the 
field,  just  one-half  of  the  whole  number  (176) 
that  had  been  killed  irom  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness  to  the  present  time." 

"Monday,  .jugust  6, 1864.  ben.  Mahone  in  a 
congratulatory  order  to  Mahone 's,  launders' 
and  Wright's  brigades  for  their  conduct  in  the 
affair  of  Saturday,  July  30,  says  that  with  an 
effective  force  of  less  -ban  3,000  men  and 
with  a  casualty  list  of  598  they  killed 
700  of  the  enemy's  people,  wounded 
by  his  own  account  over  3,000  and  captured 
1,101  prisoners,  embracing  87  officers.  17  stands 
of  colors,  2  guerdons  a-nd  1,916  stand  of  small 
aj*ms,  deeds  which  entitle  their  banners  to  the 
inscription,  'The  Crater,  Petersburg,  July  30, 
1864.'  He  says  the  enemy  had  massed  against 
us  three  of  his  corps  and  two  divisions  of  an- 
other." 

The  foregoing -brief  entries  are  all  that 
I  find  in  my  diary  relating  to  the    battle. 

From  information  subsequently  ob- 
tained I  am  able  to  correct  some  of  the 
statements  therein  made  : 

In  Comrade  W.  Gordon  McCabVs  ad 
mirable  address  entitled  '-The  Defence  of 
Petersburg,"  the  accuracy  aDd  fullness  of 
the  information  contained  in  which  are 
only  equalled  by  the  clear    and    beautiful 


language  in  which  it  is  conveyed,  the 
statement  is  made  that  the  loss  of  life 
caused  by  the  explosion  of  the  mine  was 
256  officers  and  men  of  the  18th  and  22nd 
South  Carolina  regiments  and  two  offi- 
cers and  twenty  men  of  Pegram's  Peters- 
burg battery  This  battery  was  com- 
manded by  Captain  Richard  G.  Pegram, 
who  was  absent  ou  duty,  and  thus  es- 
caped what  befell  his  two  lieutenants, 
Hamlin  and  Chandler. 

In  a  letter  published  in  September, 
1873,  Dr.  Hugh  Toland,  surgeon  of  the 
18th  South  Carolina,  locates  this  regi- 
ment as  on  the  left,  or  north,  of  Pegram's 
battery,  and  the  22nd  South  Carolina  as 
on  the  right,  or  south,  of  this  battery  at 
the  time  of  the  explosion. 

"My  brigade,"  says  Dr.  Tolaad,  "had 
sutlered  severely — the  22nd  South  Caro- 
lina had  lost  its  gallant  Col.  Fleming, 
and  many  a  brave  soldier.  My  regiment 
had  lost  163  men.  Two  whole  compa- 
nies, A  and  C,  Eighteenth  South  Carolina, 
had  not  a  man  left,  who  was  on  duty,  to 
tell  the  tale.  One  hundred  and  one  of 
my  men,  including  Capts.  McComich  and 
Birdgis  w<-re  dead — buried  in  the  Crater 
or  scattered  along  the  works — and  62 
missing." 

Giving  the  Federal  loss  in  this  engage- 
ment, Capt.  McCabe  in  his  address  says  : 

"In  this  grand  assault  on  Lee's  lines,  for 
which  Meaae  h*d  massed  65,000  troops,  the  en- 
emy suffered  a  loss  of  5.000  men,  including  1,101 
prisoners,  among  whom  were  two  brigade  com- 
manders, whilst  vast  quantities  of  small  arms 
and  twenty-one  standards  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Victors. " 

The  quantity  of  powder  used  in  ex- 
ploding the  mine  was  not  six  tons,  but 
8,000  pounds.  "The  charge,"  says 
Lieut. -Col.  Henry  Pleasants,  of  the  48th 
Pennsylvania  Veteran  volunteers,  the 
originator  of  the  mine,  in  his  report  of 
the  explosion,  "consisted  of  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  kegs  of  powder,  each 
containing  about  twenty-five  pounds.  It 
was  placed  in  eight  magazines,  connected 
with  each  other  by  troughs  half  tilled 
with  powder.  These  troughs  from  the 
lateral  galleries  met  at  the  inner  end  of 
the  main  one,  and  from  this  point  I  had 
three  lines  of  fuses  for  a  distance  of  98 
feet.  Not  having  fuses  as  long  as  re- 
quired, two  pieces    had  to  be  spliced  to- 


12 


gether   to    make   the   required  length  of 
each  of  the  lines." 

In  the  concluding  paragraph  of  this  re- 
port Col.  Pleasants  says: 

"I  stood  on  top  of  our  breastworks  and  -wit- 
nessed the  effect  of  the  explosion  on  the  ene- 
my. It  so  completely  paralyzed  them  that  the 
breach  was  practically  four  or  five  hundred 
yards  in  breadth.  The  rebels  in  the  forts,  both 
on  the  right  and  left  of  the  explosion,  left 
their  works,  and  for  over  an  hour  not  a  shot 
was  fired  by  their  artillery.  There  was  no  fire 
from  infantry  from  the  front  for  at  least  half 
an  hour;  none  from  the  left  for  twenty  min- 
utes, and  but  few  shots  from  the  right." 

Major  W.  H.  Powell,  acting  aide-de- 
camj)  of  General  Ledlie,  the  command- 
ant of  the  first  division  of  the  Ninth 
Corps,  at  the  time  of  the  explosion,  in 
his  article  entitled  "The  Tragedy  of  the 
Crater,"  published  in  the  September, 
1887,  number  of  the  Century,  says  : 

"I  returned  immediately,  and  just  as  I  ar- 
rived in  rear  of  the  first  division  the  mine  was 
sprung.  It  was  a  magnificent  spectacle,  and 
as  the  mass  of  earth  went  up  into  the  air,  car- 
rying with  it  men,  guns,  carriages  and  tim- 
bers, and  spread  out  like  an  immense  cloud  as 
it  reached  its  altitude,  so  close  were  the  Union 
lines  that  the  mass  appeared  as  if  it  would 
descend  immediately  upon  the  troops  waiting 
to  make  i  he  charge.  This  caused  them  to 
break  and  scatter  to  the  rear,  and  about  ten 
minutes  were  consumed  in  reforming  for  the 
attack.  Not  much  was  lost  by  this  delay,  how- 
ever, as  it  took  nearly  that  time  for  the  cloud 
of  dust  to  pass  off.  *******  " 

"Little  did  those  men  anticipate  what  they 
would  see  upon  arriving  there:  an  enormous 
hole  in  the  ground  about  30  feet  deep,  60  feet 
wide  and  170  feet  long,  filled  with  dust,  great 
blocks  of  clay,  guns,  broken  carriages,  pro- 
jecting timbers,  and  men  buried  in  various 
ways— some  up  to  their  necks,  others  to  their 
waists,  and  some  with  only  their  feet  and  legs 
protruding  from  the  earth.  ******** 

"The  whole  scene  of  the  explosion."  con- 
tinues Major  Powell,  "struck  every  one  dumb 
with  astonishment  as  we  arrived  at  the  crest  of 
the  debris.  It  was  impossible  for  the  troops  of 
the  second  brigade  to  move  forward  in  line,  as 
they  had  advanced;  and,  owing  to  the  broken 
state  they  were  in,  every  man  crowding  up  to 
look  into  the  hole,  and  being  pressed  by  the 
first  brigade,  which  was  immediately  in  rear, 
it  was  equally  impossible  to  move  by  the  flank, 
by  any  command,  around  the  crater.  Before 
the  brigade  commanders  could  realize  the  sit- 
uation, the  brigades  became  inextricably 
mixed,  in  the  desire  to  look  into  the  hole.  *  *  *" 

From  the  next  paragraph  of  Maj.  Pow- 
ell's article  it  appears  that  Col.  Pleasants 
was  in  error  as  to  the  extent  of  the  demor- 
alization of  the  Confederates  incident 
upon  the  explosion,  as  the  South  Caro- 
linians in  the  trenches  near  the  Crater 
were  quick  to  recover  their  equanim- 
ity and  to  make  the  in  coming  Federals 
feel  their  presence.  In  this  paragraph 
this  Federal  officer  says  : 


"However,  Col.  Marshall  yelled  to  the  Sec- 
ond Brigade  to  move  forward,  and  the  men 
did  so,  jumping,  sliding  and  tumbing  into  the 
hole,  over  the  debris  of  material,  and  dead  and 
dying  men,  and  huge  blocks  of  solid  clay. 
They  were  followed  by  Gen.  Bartlett's  bri- 
gade. Up  on  the  other  side  of  the  Crater  they 
climbed,  and  while  a  detachment  stopped  to 
place  two  of  the  dismounted  guns'  of  the  bat- 
tery in  position  on  the  enemy's  side  of  the 
crest  of  the  crater,  a  portion  of  the  leading 
brigade  passed  over  the  crest  and  attempted 
to  re-form.  It  was  at  this  period  that  they 
found  they  were  being  killed  by  musket-shots 
from  the  rear,  fired  by  the  Confederates  who 
were  still  occupying  the  traverses  and  in- 
trenchments  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  Cra- 
ter. These  men  had  been  awakened  by  the 
noise  and  shock  of  the  explosion,  and  during 
the  interval  before  the  attack  had  recovered 
their  equanimity,  and  when  the  Union  troops 
attempted  to  re-form  on  the  enemy's  side  of 
the  Crater,  they  had  faced  about  and  delivered 
a  fire  into  the  backs  of  our  men.  this  coming 
so  unexpectedly  caused  the  forming  line  to 
fall  back  into  the  Crater." 

Mr.  George  L.  Kilmer,  of  the  14th 
New  York  Heavy  Artillery,  in  his  article 
entitled  "The  Dash  into  the  Crater," 
published  in  the  same  number  (Septem- 
ber number,  1887,)  of  the  Century, 
makes  some  striking  statements.   He  says  : 

"Some  few  declared  that  they  would  never- 
follow  'niggers'  or  be  caught  in  their  com- 
pany, and  started  back  to  our  own  lines,  but 
were  promptly  driven  forward.  Then  the  col- 
ored troops  broke  and  scattered,  and  pande- 
monium began.  The  bravest  lost  heart,  and 
men  who  distruoted  the  negroes  vented  their 
feelings  freely.  Some  colored  men  came  into 
the  crater  and  there  they  found  a  worse  fate 
thandea'hon  the  charge.  It  was  believed 
among  the  whites  that  the  enemy  would  give 
no  quarter  to  negroes,  or  to  whites  taken  with 
them,  j-nd  so  to  be  shut  up  with  blacks  in  the 
crater  was  equal  to  a  doom  of  death.  *  *  *  It  has 
been  positively  asserted  that  white  men  bayo- 
neted blacks  who  fell  back  into  the  crater. 
This  was  in  order  to  preserve  the  whites  from 
Confederate  vengeance.  Men  boasted  in  my 
presence  that  blacks  had  been  thus  disposed 
of,  particularly  when  the  Confederates  came 
up." 

It  will  be  asked  what  was  the  number 
of  Federal  soldiers  who  were  actually  in 
possession  of  our  works  at  the  time  of 
of  the  charge  made  by  Mahone's  brigade. 

As  the  expression  "an  effective  force 
of  not  less  than  3,000  men"  used  in 
Gen.  Mahone's  eongn-tulory  order  to  the 
three  brigades,  Mahone's,  Wright's  and 
Saunders,  embraced  not  only  the  force 
of  about  800  men  of  Mahone's  brigade 
who  made  the  charge  a  little  before  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  but  also  the 
forces  engaged  in  the  several  unsuccess- 
ful charges  made  by  "Wright's  brigade 
and  the  final  successful  charge  made 
about  one   o'clock    in    the    afternoon    by 


13 


Saunders'  brigade,  and  probably   the   co- 
operating artillery  and  other  infantry,  so 

•  the  statement  made  by  Gen.  Mahone  in 
this  order  that  "the  enemy  had  massed 
against  us  three  of  his  corps  and  two  di- 
visions of  another"  and  Capt.  McCabe's 
statement  that  '  'Meade  had  massed"  for 
the  assault  "65,000  troops"  must-  be 
understood  as  embracing  not  only  those 
who  were  actually  in  possession  of  our 
works  but  those  immediately  in,  or 
massed  a  short  distance  behind,  the  Fed- 
eral works  near  by  who  were  taking 
part  or  ready  to  take  part  in  the  affair. 
But  we  are  not  without  data  by  which 
to  ascertain  the  probable  number  of  men 
that  occupied  the  Confederate  works 
when  the  Virginia  brigade  numbering 
about  800  men  dashed  forward,  in  the 
manner  that  has  been  described,  to  en- 
gage in  what  every  man  knew  would  be 
a  death-struggle  for  their  possession. 
Gen.  Mahone's  congratulatory  order 
places  the  flags  captured  at  seventeen; 
Capt.  McCabe  gives  twenty-one  as  the 
number  of  standards  cpptured.  We 
will  take  Gen.  Mahone's   figures  and   es- 

'  timate  each  of  the  seventeen  regiments 
represented  by  the  seventeen  flags  as 
containing  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  a 
fair  average  for  a  veteran  regiment  in 
the  Federal  army  at  that  time.  This 
done  and  we  have  a  force  of  4,250  men. 
But  this  average  is  manifestly  two 
small,  when  we  consider  the  statement 
of  Colonel  Henry  G.  Thomas,  who  com- 
mandedthe  Second  Brigade  of  the  Fourth 
Division  (Ferrero's)  of  the  Ninth  Corps, 
made  in  his  article  in  the  September 
number,  1887,  of  the  Century,  entitled 
"The  Colored  Troops  at  Peters- 
burg," in  which  he  says:  "There 
was  but  one  division  of  dolored 
troops  in  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac— the  Fourth  Division  of  the  Ninth 
Corps — organized  as  follows.  *  *  * 
*  *  *  *  Trn8  made  a  division  of 
only  nine  regiments,  divided,  into  two 
brigades,  yet  it  was  numerically  a  large 
division.  The  regiments  were  entirely 
full  and  a  colored  deserter  was  a  thing 
unknown.  On  the  day  of  the  action  the 
division  numbered  4,300,  of  which  2,000 


belonged  to  Sigfried's  brigade  and  2,300 
to  mine. " 

To  assume  that  tbe  number  of  flags 
captured  represented  the  total  number  of 
regiments  at  the  place  of  capture  leads  to 
a  very  erroneous  result.  So  far  from 
there  being  only  seventeen  regiments  in 
our  works,  there  were  probably  more  than 
double  this  number. 

There  went  into  our  works  three  white 
divisions,  the  First  (Ledlie's),  the  Second 
(Potter's)  and  the  Third  (Wilcox's), of  the 
Ninth  (Burnside)  Corps,  about  four  regi- 
ments excepted,  and  after  these  the  col- 
ored division  of  General  Ferrero.  This 
appears  from  the  following  paragraph  in 
the  testimony  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Charles  G.  Loring,  of  General  Burnside' s 
staff,  before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct 
of  the  War: 

"  General  Ledlie's  division  was  to  go  in 
first;  the  whole  of  that  division  went  into 
the  crater,  or  lines  immediately  adjoining. 
General  Potter's  division  was  to  go  in  next, 
but  to  go  in  on  the  right  of  the  other,  I  did 
not  see  them  and  I  do  not  know  how  many  of 
them  went  into  the  crater.  I  simply  saw  the 
head  of  the  column  going  in.  I  understood 
that  they  all  went  into  the  enemy's  lines,  but 
I  cannot  say  positively  about  that.  General 
Wilcox's  division  also  went  in  at  the  same 
place  where  General  Ledlie's  division  went 
in.  I  think  four  of  his  regiments— I  am  not 
sure  of  the  number— failed  to  get  in.  In  start- 
ing from  onr  line  they  bore  off  too  much  to 
the  left  and  came  back  to  our  own  line,  and 
did  not  go  in.  I  think  that  with  that  excep- 
tion the  whole  of  General  Wilcox's  division 
went  into  the  enemy's  lines.  The  regiments 
of  his  division  went  in  at  different  times,  not 
as  a  division,  but  disjointedly.  And  at  half 
past  seven,  about  two  hours  and  a  half  after 
the  mine  exploded,  the  whole  of  the  colored 
division  went  in  at  the  same  point." 

If  the  three  white  divisions  numbered 
each  nine  regiments  (the  number  of  the 
regiments  in  the  colored  division),  they 
aggregated  27  regiments.  Deduct  the  4 
regiments  of  Wilcox's  division  referred  to 
by  Col.  Loring,  allow  250  men  to  each  of 
the  24  remaining  regiments  and  we  have 
6,000  men.  To  these  add  the  4,300  col- 
ored troops,  and  there  was  an  aggregate 
of  10,300  men!  And  this  without  counting 
a  brigade  of  Gen.  Turner's  division  of  the 
18  th  corps,  which,  according,  to  his  tes- 
timony before  the  Committee  on  the  Con- 
duct of  the  War,  took  possession  of  about 
100  yards  of  our  works  to  the  north  of 
the  Crater. 

Gen.  Ord,  in  his   testimony  before  the 


14 


Committee  by  implication,  puts  the  num- 
ber of  men  who  went  into  the  Confede- 
rate works  at  10,000  or  12,000,  when  he 
says  : 

"The  ground  to  the  left  and  front  ot  the  mine 
was  marshy  and  covered  bs-  bushes  aud  trees. 
No  preparations  had  been  made  for  our  troops 
to  pass  out  to  our  right  or  Jeft  They  could 
only  get  out  b v  a  single  long  trench  or  cov- 
ered way;  so  that  in  the  slow  process  of  get- 
ting lO.OuO  or  12.000  men  up  through  this  i. ar- 
row space  and  through  a  single  opening  the 
enemy  had  an  opportunity  to  mate  prepara- 
tions to  meet  them.    All  this  produced  delay  " 

With  facts  and  figures  like  these  to 
sustain  the  assertion,  we  are  warranted 
in  stating  that  the  force  against  which 
our  little  band  of  about  eight  hundred 
Virginians  was  hurled  out-numbered  their 
assailants  more  than  ten  to  one  ! 

But  whilst  the  highest  credit  belongs 
to  the  Virginia  brigade  for  its  achieve- 
ments on  this  occasion,  itmustbe  remem- 
bered that  bad  management  in  the  dis- 
position of  the  Federal  forces  greatly  as- 
sisted in  producing  the  result.  No  troops, 
crowded  as  were  the  Federals  in  the  Cra- 
ter and  in  the  trenches  on  either  side,  the 
latter  having  a  perfect  net-  .vork  of  tra- 
vesrses  and  bomb-proofs,  which  greatly 
impeded  the  Federals  in  resisting  an  as- 
sault from  the  west,  or  Confederate  side 
of  our  works,  could  well  have  met  a  de- 
termined assault  made  from  this  direction. 
"These  pits,"  says  Col.  Thomas  in  his 
Century  article,  referring  to  the  trenches 
at  this  place,  "were  different  from  any 
in  our  lines — a  labyrinth  of  bomb-proofs 
and  magazines,  with  passages   between." 

How  far  towards  Cemetery  Ridge,  that 
is  to  say,  west  of  the  Confederate  works, 
did  the  Federal  forces  advance  at  any 
time  during  their  four  hours'  occupation 
of  these  works,  is  a  question  which  nat- 
turally  arises,  and  was  asked  several  of 
the  witnesses  in  the  official  investigation 
made  by  the  Federal  government.  Ex- 
tracts from  some  of  the  testimony  before 
the  court  of  inquiry  held  at  the  head- 
quarters of  Gen.  Hancock  on  the  1st  of 
September,  1864,  will  give  us  some  light 
upon  this  point : 

Brigadier   General  S.  G.     Griffin,  who 

commanded  a  brigade  of  Potter's  division, 

on  the  stand  : 

'■Ques.— Did  your  command  go  beyond  the 
crater  ? 


"Ans  — Tt  did. 

"Ques. — About  how  far  ? 

"Ans.  I  should  judge  about  two  hundred 
yards.  It  might  be  more,  or  it  might  be  less. 
It  could  not  hive  been  much  less,  however; 
that  is  as  near  as  I  can  judge." 

Col.  H.  G.  Thomas,  commandin<f  the 
Second  brigade  of  Ferrero's  (colored)  di- 
vision, on  the  stand  ; 

Quest.  Did  you  get  beyond  the  line  of  the 
crater  with  your  troops  ? 

Ans.  I  did,  sir. 

Quest.  How  far? 

Ans.  I  should  say  about  between  three  and 
four  hundred  y^rds  to  the  right  of  the  crater 
and  in  front  of  it.  I  was  ordered  to  support 
the  first  brigade  when  it  made  its  charge. 

Col.  Thomas's  last  answer  giving  no 
definite  information  as  to  the  position  of 
his  troops  in  advance  of  the  Confederate 
works,  and  the  court  manifestly  having  a 
doubt  as  to  his  troops  having  gone  to  the 
west  of  these  works  at  ail,  he  is  asked 
the  pointed  question  :  "Did  you  get  be- 
yond the  enemy's  line  '!"  He  replies  :  "i 
did,  sir;  I  led  a  charge  which  was  not 
successful.  The  moment  1  reached  the 
first  brigade  I  started  out  the  31st  col-, 
ored  regiment,  which  was  in  front,  but 
it  lost  its  three  ranking  officers  iu  get' 
ting  in  position,  and  did  not  go  out  well." 
The  witness's  answer,  whilst  responsive 
to  the  question,  like  his  auswer  to  the 
preceding  question,  gives  no  light  as  to 
the  point  west  of  the  Confederate  works 
reached  by  his  command. 

The  next  witness,  however,  testifies 
very  clearly,  and  probably  gives  the 
most  accurate  information  as  to  the  posi- 
tion reached  by  the  troops  that  moved 
forward  west  of  the  Confederate  works 
The  witness  is  Lieut. -Col.  Chas.  S,  Rus- 
sell, commanding  the  28th  U.  S.  colored 
troops,  of  Col.  Thomas's  brigade.  Being 
asked  the  question  "How  far  in  advance 
did  you  get  towards  Cemetery  hill  ?"  he 
replfes  :  "Not  exceeding  fifty  yards. 
We  were  driven  back." 

"By  what  ?"  is  the  next  question  asked 
this  witness.  He  replies:  "I  should 
judge  by  about  two  or  four  hundred  men, 
infantry,  which  rose  from  a  little  ravine 
and  charged  us.  Being  all  mixed  up  and 
and  in  confusion,  and  new  troops,  we 
had  to  come  back." 

The  witness  is  in  error  as  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  Confederates  who  "rose  up 
from  the   little    ravine,"    as    they    were 


15 


the  men  of  the  Virginia  brigade;  whose 
number    was     approximated    by      Gen. 

•  Griffin,  when  be  (-aid  :  "Five  or  six  hun- 
dred men  were  all  we  could  see.  I  did 
not  see  either  tbe  light  or  the  left  of  the 
line.      I  saw  the   centre   of  the    line  as  it 

}  appeared  to  me.  It  was  a  good  line  of 
battle." 

Of  the  condition  of  things  in  the  Cra- 
ter and  in  trenches  when  the  three  white 
division?  had  entered  the  Confederate 
works  and  tbe  colored  division  was 
about  to  go  in,  about  7  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  Gen.  Turner,  who 
commanded  a  division  of  the  18th  (Oid's) 
corps,  gives  a  graphic  description  in  his 
testimony  before  the  committee.  Be 
says  : 

"When  the  head  of  my  column  reached  the 
point  at  which  our  assaulting  column  had 
passed  through  our  lines,  it  was.  as  near  as  I 
recollect,  about  1  o'clock.  I  jumped  up  on  a 
parapet  to  observe  what  was  suing  on.  Im- 
mediately in  front  of  me  lay  the  crater,  about 
seventy-rive  tyarda  distant.  The  men  were  in 
it  and  around  it  in  great  confusion ;  they  were 
lying  down,  seeking  shelter  Horn  the  tire  of 
the  enemy,  which  at  that  time  had  become  ex- 
ceedingly warm.  The  enemy  had  succeeded 
in  getting  a  cross  fire  of  artillery  and  musket- 
%  ry  pver  the  ground  lying  between  our  line  and 
the  crater.  *  *  *  *  My  idea  was  that  the 
9th  corps  would  penetrate  the  enemy's  line 
and  double  them  up  to  the  right  and  to  the 
left,  and  then  i  was  to  pass  out  and  cover  the 
right  flank  of  the  assaulting  column,  but  the 
enemy  still  held  possession  of  then  lines  up  to 
within  one  hundred  yards  of  the  crater  when 
I  arrived,  which  surprised  me.  It  left  me  no 
alternative  of  going  out  anywhere  but  direct- 
ly opposite  the  crater,  where  the  9th  corps 
went  out.  I  could  see  no  movement  taking 
place  bevond  the  crater  towards  Cemetery 
hill.  *  *  *  *  The  troops  lay  very  thick  in 
and  around  the  crater,  evidently  more  than 
could  find  cover  from  the  enemy's  fire.  *  *  * 
The  crater  was  full  of  men:  they  were  lying 
all  around,  and  every  point  that  would  give 
cover  to  a  man  was  occupied.  There  was  no 
movement  towards  Cemetery  hill;  the  troops 
were  all  in  confusion  ana  lying  down.  I  asked 
one  or  two  officers  there  if  an  attempt  had 
been  made  to  move  to  Cemetery  hill.  They 
said  the  attempt  had  been  made. 
but  it  had  failed  1  then  said, 
'you  ought  to  intrench  your  position  here, 
and  you  have  too  many  troops  here  already  to 
intrench.  There  are  so  many  troops  here  th->t 
they  are  in  each  other's  way;  they  are  only 
exposed  to  this  terrific  fire  of  the  enemy,' 
which  was  then  growing  warmer  and  warmer, 
and  was  a  very  severe  fire,  w  hile  I  was  talk- 
ing to  an  officer— we  had  sought  shelter  in  the 
crater— the  head  of  the  colored  division  ap- 
peared at  the  crest  of  the  crater,  and  the  di- 
vision commenced  piling  over  into  the  crater 
and  passing  across  it  on  the  other  side  as  well 
as  they  could.  1  exclaimed,  'What  are  these 
men  sent  in  here  for?  it  is  only  adding  confu- 
sion to  the  confusion  which  already  exists.' 
The  men  literally  came  falling  over  into  this 


crat<  r  on  their  hands  and  knees;  they  were  so 
thick  in  there  thau  a  man  could  not  walk.  See- 
ing that  1  was  g  -ing  to  be  covered  up,  and  be 
entirely  useless,  1  thought  1  would  go  out:  As 
I  hnd  no  control  over  these  troops,  and  sup- 
posing there  were  officers  in  command,  I  said, 
'if  y«.u  can  get  the  e  troops  beyond  this  line 
so  that  1  can  ^et  out,  I  will  move  my  division 
right  out  and  cover  your  right  flank;'  and  I 
went  back  for  the  purpose  of  doing  so.  1  met 
General  Old  on  our  line  at  the  head  of  my  di- 
vision. 1  said,  "General,  unless  a  movement  is 
made  out  of  the  crater  towards  Cemetery  hill, 
it  is  murder  to  ^end  more  men  in  there.  That 
colored  division  should  never  have  been  sent 
in  there;  but  there  io  a  turor  there,  and  per- 
haps they  may  move  off  sufficiently  for  me  to 
pass  rny  division  out.'  " 

General  Ord,  in  his  testimony,  using 
vigorous  language;  says  : 

"The  men  had  to  go  through  a  long  narrow 
trench,  about  one-third  of  a  mile  in  length, 
before  they  got  into  our  extreme  outwork,  and 
then  they  went  int  >  this  crater,  and  were  piled 
into  that  hole,  where  they  were  perfettiy  use- 
less. They  were  of  about  as  much  use  there 
as  so  many  men  at  the  bottom  of  a  well." 

The  stampede  whicb  took  place  when 
Mahone's  brigade  made  its  charge  is  thus 
described  b}  General  Turner  in  his  testi- 
mony : 

"J  had  got,  probably,  half  way  between  our 
line  and  the  enemy's  lines — which  were  per- 
haps onb  a  hundred  yards  apart  at  that  point, 
and  it  was  a  very  broken  country,  thick  under- 
brush and  morass— when,  looking  to  the  left,  I 
saw  the  troops  m  vast  numbers  coming  rush- 
ing back,  and  immediately  my  whole  first  bri- 
gade came  back,  and  then  my  second  brigade 
on  my  right,  and  everything  was  swept  back 
in  and  around  the  crater,  and  probably  all  but 
about  one-third  of  the  original  number  stam- 
peded back  right  into  our  lines.  Alter  some 
exertion  1  rallied  my  men  of  the  first  and 
and  second  brigades  after  they  got  into  our 
lines,  while  my  third  brigade  held  the  line." 

Gen.  Carr,  who  commanded  a  division 

of  the  18  th  corps,   iu  his  testimony  thus 

describes  the  stampede: 

"I  saw  a  vacancy,  a  gap  that  I  thought  about 
four  regiments  would  fill,  and  assist  that  line 
of  battle  that  was  going  over  our  breastworks 
to  take  those  ritie  pits.  I  immediately  took 
command  of  part  of  Turner's  division,  and 
ordered  them  over  the  line  to  join  the  line  of 
troops  then  advancing,  aud  told  them  to 
charge  the  rifle-pits  in  their  front,  which  they 
did.  That  was  about  two  hundred  yards  on 
the  right  of  the  crater.  After  putting  those 
troops  in,  I  stepped  back  from  the  intrench- 
ment  some  ten  of  fifteen  yards  towards  the 
covered  way,  and  I  had  scarcely  got  back  to 
the  lower  end  of  the  covered  way  when  the 
stampede  began,  and  1  suppose  two  thousand 
troops  came  back,  and  I  was  lifted  from  my 
feet  by  the  rushing  mass,  and  carried  along 
with  it  ten  or  fiftteen  yards  in  the  covered 
way.  What  staff  I  had  with  me  assisted  me  in 
stopping  the  crowd  in  the  covered  way,  and  in 
putting  some  of  them  in  position  in  the  second 
line;  some  were  in  the  first,  i  left  General 
Potter  in  the  covered  way." 

I    would    like    to   give   more  extracts 


16 


from  the  sworn  and  other  statements  of 
our  adversaries  as  to  what  was  done  and 
omitted  to  be  done  on  this  memorable 
day,  which  marked  an  event  altogether 
exceptional  in  the  history  of  the  war;  but 
I  fear  that  I  have  already  drawn  from 
these  sources  of  information  to  the  point 
of  prolixity. 

Although  all  matters  of  controversy 
would  in  this  address  gladly  have  been 
avoided,  I  cannot  pass  unnoticed  a  re- 
markable paragraph  in  Col.  Alfred  Ro- 
man's work,  "The  Military  Operations  of 
Gen.  Beauregard." 

At  page  267,  after  mentioning  Gen. 
Meade's  order  to  Gen.  Burnside  to  with- 
draw his  troops  given  at  9:45  A.  M.,  and 
the  orders  given  to  Gen.  Hancock  at  9 :25 
and  to  Gen.  Warren  at  9:45  "to  suspend 
all  offensive  operations,"  Col.  Roman, 
basing  his  statement  upon  statements 
made  by  Gen.  Bushrod  Johnson  and  Col. 
F.  W.  McMaster,*  says  : 

"Such  was  the  situation— the  Federals  un- 
able to  advance,  and  fearing  to  retreat — when, 
at  ten  o'clock,  Gen.  Mahone  arrived  with  a 
part  of  his  men,  who  lay  down  in  the  shallow 
ravine,  to  the  rear  of  Elliott's  salient,  held  by 
the  force  under  Col.  Smith,  there  to  await  the 
remainder  of  the  division.  But  a  movement 
having  occurred  among  the  Federals  which 
seemed  to  menace  an  advance,  Gen.  Mahone 
threw  forward  his  brigade,  with  the  61st  North 
Carolina,  of  Hoke's  division,  which  had  now 
also  come  up.  he  35th  and  49th  North  Caro- 
lina, and  the  28th  and  part  of  the  17th  South 
Carolina,  all  under  Smith,  which  were  formed 
on  Mahone's  left,  likewise  formed  in  the  coun- 
ter movement,  and  three-fourths  of  the  gorge- 
line  were  carried  with  that  part  of  the  trench 
on  the  left  of  the  crater  occupied  by  the  Fed- 
erals. Many  of  the  latter,  white  and  black, 
abandond  the  breach  and  fled  to  their  lines, 
under  a  scourging  flank  fire  from'  Wise's  bri- 


The  statement  here  made  that  the 
charge  was  made  by  Mahone's  brigade, 
with  the  6 1st,  25th  and  49th  North  Car- 
olina and  the  26th  and  part  of  the  17th 
South  Carolina  regiments  is  as  clearly  in- 
correct as  is  the  statement  that  Mahone 
arrived  about  ten  o'clock,  after  Gen. 
Meade  issued  his  orders  above  referred  to. 

Against  this  statement  as  to  time  we 
may  safely  place  that  of  Col.  Venable,  of 
Gen.  Lee's  staff,  made  in  1872,  in  which 
he  says  :     "I  know  that  it  is  difficult  to 

*Col.  McMaster,  of  the  17th  S.  C.  regiment, 
took  command  of  Gen  Elliott's  brigade  when 
Gen.  Elliott  received  his  death  wound  early  in 
the  morning,  soon  after  the  Federals  took 
possession  of  our  works. 


be  accurate  as  to  time  on  the  battlefield, 
unless  noted  and  written  down  at  the  mo- 
ment. But  I  am  confident  this  charge  of 
the  Virginians  was  made  before  9  o'clock 
A.  M.  I  know  from  my  recollection  of 
the  notes  received  and  answered  by  Gen. 
Lee,  that  after  the  charge,  the  formation 
of  the  Georgia  brigade,  under  Col.  Hall, 
was  completed,  and  after  some  delay  was 
moved  around  under  the  slope,  more  to 
the  right,  and  made  a  charge  at  10 
o'clock  to  recover  that  portion  of  the  line 
on  the  right  of  the  Crater." 

But  we  are  not  without  a  contempora- 
neous record  to  prove  beyond  all  contro- 
versy that  the  charge  of  Mahone's  brigade 
was  made  prior  to  9  o'clock  A.  M.,  and 
therefore  to  the  several  orders  issued  by 
Gen.  Meade  to  suspend  operations  and 
withdraw  the  troops. 

Gen.  Meade,  in  his  testimony  before 
the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War, 


'"At  9  A.  M.  I  received  the  following  dispatch 
from  Gen.  Burnside : 

[By  telegraph  from   headquarters  9th  army 
corps.'] 
'"9  A.M.,  July  30, 1864. 
"  "Gen.  Meade  : 

"  'Many  of  the  ninth   (9th)  and  eighteenth' 
(18th)  corps  are  retiring  before  the  enemy.    I 
think  now  is  the  time  to  put  in  the  fifth  (5th) 
corps  promptly. 

"  'A.  E.  Burnside, 

"  'Major-General.    I, 
"  '[Official.]  "  'S.  F.  Barstow, 

"  'Assistant  Adjutant  General.' 
"That  was  the  first  information  I  had  re- 
ceived that  there  was  any  collision   with  the 
enemy,  or  that  there  was  any  enemy  present. 
At  9:30  A.  M.  the  following  dispatch  was  sent 
to  General  Burnside: 
"  'Headquarters  Army  of  the  Potomac,  I 
"'July  30, 1864— 9:30  A.M.     J 

"  '■Major  General  Burnside,  Commanding  9th 
Corps : 
"  'The  major  general  commanding  has  heard 
that  the  result  of  your  attack  has  been  a  re- 
pulse, and  directs  that  if,  in  your  judgment, 
nothing  further  can  be  effected,  that  you 
withdraw  to  your  own  line,  taking  every  pre- 
caution to  get  the  men  back  safely. 

"  'A.  A.  HUMPHREYS, 
"  'Major  General  and  Chief  of  Staff. 
"  'General  Ord  will  do  the  same. 

"  'A.  A.  HUMPHREYS. 
"  'Major  General  and  Chief  of  Staff. 
"  'Official:  S.  F.  BARSTOW, 

"  'Assistant  Adjutant  General.' 
"Then  I  received  the  following  dispatch 
from  Captain  Sanders: 

[By  Telegraph  from  Headquarters  9th  Army 
Corps.']  i 

"•9  A.M.,  July  30, 1864. 
"  To  Major  General  Meade : 
"'The  attack  made  on  right  of  mine  has 


17 


been  repulsed.  A  great  many  men  are  coming 
in  the  rear.  W.  W.  ^ANDERS, 

'•  'Oaptain  and  C.  M.' 
'"Official:  S.  F.  BARSTOW, 

"  'Assistant  Adjutant  General.1 " 

The  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
War,  in  their  report  made  after  all  of  the 
testimony  bearing  on  the  subjeet,  oral 
and  documentary,  had  been  heard  and 
considered,  fully  appreciating  the  impor- 
tance of  stating  correctly  the  order  of 
sequence  and  accordingly  the  exact  time 
of  the  occurrence  of  the  several  military 
movements  which  were  the  subject  of 
the  committee's  investigation,  say  : 

"The  fourth  (colored)  division  was  also  or- 
dered to  advance,  and  did  so  under  a  heavy 
fire.  Thev  succeeded  in  passing  the  white 
troops,  already  in.  bnt  in  a  disorganized  condi- 
tion. They  reformed  to  some  extent  and  at- 
tempted to  charge  the  hill  in  front,  but  with- 
out success,  and  broke  in  disorder  to  the  rear. 
This  was  about  8:45  A.  M.,  about  four  hours 
after  the  explosion  of  the  mine.    ***** 

"At  9:45  A.  M.  General  Burnside  received  a 
peremptory  order  from  General  Meade  to 
withdraw  his  troops.  *  *  *  *  *  *" 
******* 

"The  troops  were  withdrawn  between  one 
and  two  o'clock  in  considerable  confusion, 
caused  by  an  assault  of  the  enemy,  and  re- 
turned to  the  lines  they  had  occupied  in  the 
morning. 

The  error  of  Col.  Roman  in  placing  the 
orders  of  Gen.  Meade  to  his  corps  com- 
manders to  suspend  operations  and  with 
draw  their  troops  anterw  to  the  charge 
made  by  the  Virginia  brigade  shows  ex- 
ceptional want  of  care  in  the  preparation 
of  matter  published  to  the  world  as   his- 


tory. Especially  is.  this  true  as  Col. 
Roman  was  a  staff-officer  of  Gen.  Beaur- 
gard,  and  ought  to  have  been  better  in- 
formed as  to  the  subject  whereof  he 
wrote. 

As  to  the  statement  that  other  troops 
besides  the  Virginia  brigade  made  the 
charge,  and  that  these  troops  were  f  ur 
reyiments  and  part  of  a  fifth,  it  maybe 
safely  affirmed  that  this  is  not  according 
to  the  recollection  of  nny  of  the  men  of 
Mahone's  brigade  who  participated  in  the 
charge,  f 

There  any  pos<ibly  have  been,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  but  that  there  were,  a  few 
individual  members  of  these  Carolina 
regiments  who  charged  along  with  Ma- 
hone's brigade,  but.  if  any  organized 
body,  or  bodies,  of  troops  made  the 
charge  along  with  the  Virginians,  this 
important  fact  has  hitherto  wholly  es- 
caped the  attention  of  the  men  of  this 
brigade. 

That  there  was  gross  mismanagement 
on  the  part  of  the  Federals  in  not  so  ar- 
ranging and  handling  their  troops  as  to 
place  them  in  possession  of  Cemetery 
Ridge  within  a  few  minutes  after  the  ex- 
plosion of  the  mine  none  can  dispute. 

That  the  gallant  South  Carolinians  of 
Elliott's  brigade  uo  to  the  date  of  the 
fall  of  their  brave  leader,  General 
Stephen  Elliott,   and  subsequently  under 


tCaptain  W.  Gordon  McCabe,  who  was  the 
adjutant  of  Colonel  Wm.  J.  Pegram 's  battal- 
ion of  artillery,  was  an  eye-witness  of  the 
charge.  In  an  account  of  what  he  saw,  sent 
me  today,  he  says: 

"  t  a  little  before  1  A.  M„  Colonel  Pegram 
reported  with  two  batteries  (Brander's  and 
'the  PurcelD  at  Bushrod  Johnson's  headquar- 
ters, which  were  east  of  the  road  and  immedi- 
ately north  of  the  present  first  entrance  to 
Blandford  Cemetery. 

"General  Johnson  knew  nothing  of  the  ex- 
tent of  the  disaster.  He  had  not  even  been  to 
the  front.  General  Lee  came  up  while  I  was 
there,  Colonel  Pegram  having  gone  to  the 
front  to  see  where  to  put  his  guns. 

"Col.  Pegram  returned  In  a  few  minutes, 
and  as.  on  account  of  the  severe  fire  sweeping 
the  plank  road,  we  could  not  move  the  guns 
up  that  road,  we  went  back  toward  town  until 
we  struck  the  ravine.  We  pulled  our  guns 
along  the  ravine  until  we  came  to  the  reser- 
voir. We  went  up  the  ravine  along  the  course 
of  .Lieutenant  Run  to  a  point  near  the  bridge 
on  New  road,  which  road  being  commanded 
by  the  enemy's  guns,  we  had  to  as- 
cend the  hill  to  the  north  of  this  road. 
The  hill  is  very  steep  there,  or  was.  We 
left  our  caissons  in  the  ravine  at  the  foot  of 
the  reservoir,  'doubled  teams'  4>n  the  guns  and 


pulled  them  square  up  this  almost  perpendic 
ular  hill.  It  was  the  steepest  pull  I  ever  saw 
during  the  war.  We  then  moved  forward  and 
came  into  battery  about  fifty  yards  in  the  rear 
of  the  right  of  the  Gee  house,  a  commanding 
position  on  the  west  side  of  the  plank  road 
about  five  hundred  yards  in  rear  of  the  Cra- 
ter. 

"Our  orders  were  not  to  fire  at  all  unless  the 
enemy  attempted  to  re-inforce  the  troops  in 
the  Crater,  or  the  troops  there  attempted  to 
advance  to  Cemetery  Hill.  We  ran  up  piles  of 
cannister  in  front  of  each  gun  and  then  had  to 
stand  idle  and  take  a  heavy  fire.  Col.  Pegram 
and  I  went  forward  to  the  Gee  house  to  see 
what  was  going  on.  We  went  up  stairs  and 
peeped  through  the  bullet-holes,  for  the 
whole  place  was  riddled  with  bullets  and  was 
being  further  riddled  while  we  were  there. 
From  this  position  I  saw  Mahone's  men  lying 
down  in  the  ravine.  I  saw  no  troops  to  their 
right  or  left.  Suddenly  they  jumped  up  and 
with  a  wild  yell  charged  and  carried  the  posi- 
tion occupied  by  the  enemy  north  of  the  Cra- 
ter. I  never  saw  n  thing  done  so  quickly. 
Pegram  and  I  yelled  and  clapped  our  hands 
and  ran  back  and  told  our  men.  It  was  the 
first  good  news  we  had  to  tell  that  day.  ''Tan- 
turn  vidi,"1  as  the  Roman  says.  We  pulled  out 
of  our  position  at  sun-set." 


18 


the  leadership  of  Colonel  F.  W.  McMas- 
ter,  did  their  full  duty,  as  did  other  in- 
fantry by  their  fire  from  the  flanks,  none 
will  deny. 

That  the  aitillery  occupying  the  forts 
to  the  rignt  and  left  and  stationed  in  rear 
of  the  Crater  rendered  most  effective  ser- 
vice is  beyond  question. 

That  the  Alabama  brigade  made  the 
final  successful  charge  has  never  been 
dispuled. 

But  that  the  charge  of  the  Virginia 
brigade,  commanded  by  Gen.  D.  A. 
Weisiger  and  directed  by  Gen.  Wm. 
Mahone,  made  a  little  before  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  die  the  substantial  work 
that  led  to  the  re-capture  of  the  Crater 
and  the  adjacent  earthworks  is  a  fact 
that  will  always  stand  out  boldly  on  the 
pages  of  history,  and  the  fame  of  the 
brigade  foi  its  part  in  this  brilliant  ac- 
tion, increasing  as  time  rolls  on,  will 
shine  out  in  the  imperishable  records  of 
the  late  war  long  after  its  actors  shall 
have  passed  away. 

Weisiger  was  an  impetuous,  dashing 
man,  among  the  bravest  of  the  brave  ; 
Mahone,  cool,  courageous,  and  able,  was 
by  nature  fitted  for  generalship  as  few 
men  are,  and  none  knew  this  better  than 
the  men  of  his  command.  Wherever  he 
led  or  placed  them,  they  always  felt  a 
moral  certainty  that  they  were  being 
properly  led  or  placed,  either  to  inflict 
the  most  damage  on  the  enemy  or  to  have 
the  enemy  inflict  the  least  damage  on 
them.  Accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  the 
charge  at  the  Crater,  there  was  not  a 
man  in  the  brigade,  knowing  that  Gen. 
Mahone  was  present  personally  superin- 
tending and  directing  the  movement,  that 
did  not  feel  that  we  were  to  be  properly 
and  skilfully  handled,  and  would  be  put 
in  just  when  and  where  the  most  effec- 
tive service  could  be  rendered.  This  im- 
pression of  these  two  commanders  of  the 
old  brigade,  whose  names  have  passed 
into  history  along  with  that  of  the  com- 
mand, I  have  felt  that  justice  requires 
that  I  should  here  record. 

I  feel,  too,  that  I   should  not  pass  in 


silence  the  gallant  southerner,  Captain 
V.  J.  Girardey,  who  was  serving  on 
General  Mahone's  staff  at  the  time  of  the 
action  and  won  by  his  conduct  the  com- 
mission of  a  brigadier-general,  dating  from 
the  30th  of  July,  1864,  and  whose  splen- 
did conduct  on  this  and  previous  oc- 
casions had  commanded  the  admiration 
of  all  of  the  men  of  our  brigade. 

Nor  should  I  pass  in  silence  the  daring 
deeds  of  Privates  Dean  and  Valentine,  of 
the  12th  As  the  line  was  forming  for 
the  charge,  each  picked  out  and  pointed 
to  a  stand  of  Federal  colors  and  said  he 
meant  to  have  it.  On  the  charge,  before 
reaching  the  works,  Valentine  received  a 
wound  from  which  he  never  recovered, 
and  Dean  was  killed.  Both  men  were 
members  of  the  Petersburg  Old  Grays. 

I  have  now.  Comrades,  finished  my 
story  of  the  Crater,  not  however,  with- 
out a  painful  sense  that  as  a  record  of 
this  historic  battle  it  is  very  incomplete. 
Many  brave  and  gallant  deeds  done  by 
men  on  both  sides  have  not  been  men- 
tioned. To  Capt.  McCabe's  splendid 
narrative  already  mentioned,  to  the 
Century  articles  and  other  documents 
from  which  I  have  so  freely  drawn,  and 
to  the  many  old  soldiers  who  participated 
in  the  action  yet  alive,  I  must  refer  for 
much  that  I  have  necessaiily  omitted,  as 
for  instance,  for  such  deeds  of  valor  as 
those  of  Capt.  Wallace  Broadbent,  on  the 
Confederate  side,  who  fell  pierced  by 
eleven  bayonet  wounds,  and  of  Lieut.  - 
Col.  John  A.  Bross,  on  the  Federal 
side,  who,  attired  in  full  uniform,  fell 
riddled  with  bullets  as  he  was  conspicu- 
ously rallying  his  men  for  a  forward 
move.  What  has  been  narrated  tonight 
must  be  received  only  as  a  private  sol- 
dier's individual  impressions  of  the  ac- 
tion, formed  partly  from  personal  knowl- 
edge and  partly  from  information  ob- 
tained from  others  and  believed  to  be  au- 
thentic. If  the  story  told  has  interested 
or  contributed  to  a  clearer  understanding 
of  how  the  battle  was  fought  and  won, 
it  will  have  served  its  purpose. 


Hacks  and  Horses  for  Hire.    Strangers  taken  to  the  battle 

fields  and  other  places  of  interest  around  Petersburg. 
Apply  to  or  address,  R.  T.  STONE,  Petersburg,  Va. 

IMMIGRATION,  LAND  AND  IMPROVEMENT  COMPANY. 

Chartered  by  Act  of  the  Legislature. 
Authorized  Capital  Stock,  $500,000.  Minimum  Stock,  $50,000. 

Richard  B.  Davis,  Preident,    Jas.  D-  Brady,  V.-President,    Carter  B.  Bishop,  Treas* 

W-  N.  Ragland,  Secretary.  General  Counsel,  Wm.  Mcllwaine. 

Richard  B.  Davis,   Jas.  D.  Brady,     Carter  R;  Bishop,     David  Bailey,    Morris  Levy, 

W.  L.  Zinnner,  W.  Pannill.  Directors  Commissioned  hy  the  Governor  of  Virginia. 

Offers  its  services  to  all  parties  desiring  to  sell  or  purchase  lands. 


WEST-END 

Land  and  Improvement  Co, 

PETERSBURG,  VA. 


285  Valuable  Building  Lots — High,  Dry  and  Healthy. 

Davie  &  Whittle, 

'amufmcturers  of  FertiliMerSi 

PETERSBURG,  VA. 


Wm.  E.  Dibbell,  Pres.        Geo.  Alex.  Brown,  V.-Pres.         J.  O.  BowoisH,Treas. 


PETERSBURG 


6P  BBJPBRSBaRS,'  W 


General  Offices,  38  Wall  Street,  New  York. 


Dressed  and  Polished  Monunental  and  Gemetary  Work 


of  Every  Description. 


Granite  for  all  kinds  of  Building  Purposes,  Street  Curbing,  Paving,  etc, 


The  Granite  from  this  Quarry  has  no  superior,  and  we  do  the 

finest  class  of  work,  both  in  Monumental  and  Building 

contracts;   also  set  and  complete  work,     Orders   by 

mail  receive  special  attention.     Prices  furnished 

on  application.  P.  O.  Box  526,  Petersburg,  Va 


